Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza
I'm usually a thin crust pizza girl who doesn't like to waste calories on too much dough. For this thick deep dish goodness, I'm willing to make an exception. Simple toppings–sauce, cheese, and maybe a little sausage–are all this pizza needs to satisfy your cravings.
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2 1/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups water, room temperature
- 3 tbsp melted butter, for dough
- 4 tbsp softened butter, for laminating
- 1 tsp olive oil, for coating bowl
- 2 tbsp olive oil, for coating pans
Sauce and Toppings
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup onion, grated on large holes of box grater
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 tsp sugar
- 1 pound mozzarella, freshly shredded (4 cups)
- 1 pound Italian sausage, browned and crumbled (optional)
- 1/4 cup Parmigiana Reggiano, grated
Instructions
Dough
- Whisk flour, cornmeal, yeast, sugar and salt in bowl of stand mixer. Add water and melted butter.
- With dough hook, mix on low speed until combined, 1-2 minutes. Scrape sides as needed. Increase speed to medium and knead 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth.
- Coat a large bowl with 1 tsp of olive oil. Transfer dough to bowl, turning once to coat; cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour until nearly doubled in size.
- Turn dough out onto dry counter and roll into 15 by 12-inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread softened butter over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Starting at short end, roll into a tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18 by 4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half cross wise. Fold each half into thirds like a business letter, pinch seams together to form a ball. Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic and let rise in the refrigerator for 40-50 minutes.
Sauce
- In a medium saucepan, heat 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Add onion, 1/2 tsp salt, oregano and basil, stirring constantly until onion is golden brown, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increasing heat to high. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium low and simmer for 25-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
Assemble
- Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and preheat to 425 degrees. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 1 tbsp olive oil in each
- Transfer one ball of dough to dry counter and roll into 13inch circle. Transfer dough to pan. Lightly press dough into pan and up the sides of pan. Repeat with other ball of dough.
- For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over dough, spread half of the tomato sauce, crumbled browned sausage (if using) and sprinkle with 2 tbsp Parmigiano. Bake until crust is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 8-10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Be sure that mozzarella is the first layer when assembling. This will prevent the crust from becoming soggy with sauce.
- To save time, the dough can be made the day ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to roll out and bake. The sauce can easily be made ahead of time as well.
- Two 9-inch pizzas will easily serve 8. For the two of us, I assemble both pizzas, bake one and freeze the second for another day. Thaw in refrigerator before baking.