Authentic Chicago Pizza Recipe

May 14, 2019February 26, 20222 0 17
Chicago Pizza
in Dinner, USAtags: , ,

Servings

4-6

Prep Time

2 hours

Cook Time

12-14 minutes

Difficulty

Medium

Rating

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars
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Ingredients

Dough
3 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Cornmeal
1 1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 cup luke warm water
1/2 cup butter (1/4 melted and 1/4 soft)
Olive Oil for coating
Filling
1 lb cooked Italian Sausage
6 oz Pepperoni (sliced)
8 oz Full fat Mozzarella Cheese
1 yellow onion, Chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
24 oz crushed tomatoes
2 tsp Italian seasoning
t tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Recipe Nutrition (per serving)

Calories
988
Protein
44g
Fat
52g
Carbs
91g
Fiber
10g
Sugars
6g
Chicago pizza is well known as the best deep dish pizza in the world. This recipe takes some time but the results will blow your mind. If you have a cast iron pan or skillet I highly recommend using it. If you don't have one, don't worry, you can still make a great Chicago Style Pizza using this recipe.

Instructions

1.Preheat your oven to 425º and if you're using a cast iron skillet put the pan in the oven so it gets hot too.
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. you can use a mixer stand, hand mixer or just mix it by hand.
3.Add the water and melted butter. Make sure neither is too hot or it will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise. 90 degrees is about right
4.Mix the ingredients until the dough is smooth. In a stand mixer it will take about 5 minutes.
5.Remove it from the bowl and form a ball. Place the dough ball in a greased bowl and cover with aluminum foil. Place in warm environment for about an hour to allow the dough to rise. It should double in size.
6.Flour a working surface and roll the dough out into roughly a 24x18 rectangle. Spread the softened butter over the entire surface.
7.Fold the dough, like a letter and then over again so it forms a rough ball. Set aside to rise again.
8.Roll the dough out into a large circle. The dough should be about 1/4
9.Add the crushed tomato, italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper into a blender. Pulse the blender to mix the ingredients. This should take at most 10 seconds. You want to preserve some of the texture.
10.Brown the sausage in a frying pan. Drain the grease into a bowl.
11.Add 1 1/2 tbsp of the sausage grease to another pan and heat on medium to medium high.
12.Add the chopped onions to the grease and sautee the onions for 8-10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes.
13.Pull the heated pan out of the oven and lightly oil it. Place the dough in the pan, making sure that it is gently pressed into the corners.
14.Place the ingredients in layers in the dough in this order: Cheese, sausage, pepperoni, then sauce. You can sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese lightly over the top.
15.Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

We’ve been making our own pizza for years. We’ve decided to now try some different styles of pizza, and Chicago style pizza was at the top of our list. Chicago style pizza is famous for being thick, being more like a pie than the pizza you get at most take out chains. The other big difference between Chicago style pizza and others is the toppings are added in a different order, ie. cheese, meats, vegetables, then sauce on top.

I chose to use my cast iron skillet for my pizza pan and it worked great. You can use any deep dish pizza pan though, or you can use a pie tin in a pinch. The reasons a cast iron pan works so well is the seasoning and the the way iron conducts heat. The seasoning comes from using the pan over and over without completely removing the oil from each recipe. That adds a deep taste that can’t be replicated any other way. For best results heat the iron pan up before assembling the pizza in it. That will give you that slightly crunchy texture on the bottom of your pizza.

If you don’t have a cast iron pan to use, just skip the warming step in our recipe.

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