Mmmmm... pizza. Love me some pizza. I thought I knew pizza until I met Sailor Boy. He grew up near Chicago and let me tell you, these people know about pizza. It's not just the deep-dish thing. The main differences between regular pizza and "oh my goodness, this is the most heavenly thing I've ever eaten" pizza (a.k.a. Chicago-style pizza) is that there's a cornmeal crust and the sauce is on top. I know. Wrap your brain around that one.
Sailor Boy's all-time favorite place for pizza is Gino's East. They have 14 locations, but you're gonna have to go to Illinois, Wisconsin or Indiana if you want to find one. Which you should. Really. Plan a trip to the midwest just for the pizza.
Now you're wondering what all the talk about pizza has to do with baking. Um, hello. Pizza is baked. And this pizza is so worth the effort. Seriously. Do it.
Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza
Makes 1 9-inch pizza
Recipe from Annie's Eats
For the dough:
1 1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. yellow cornmeal
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/8 tsp. instant yeast
1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. water, at room temperature
1 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
For the sauce:
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. grated onion
pinch of dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (I used 2 cloves b/c we like garlic)
1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
pinch of sugar
2 Tbsp. fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
ground black pepper
(I didn't use the fresh basil. I didn't have it in the house. I don't think the sauce suffered for it.)
For assembling and topping:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. mozzarella, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/4 oz. parmesan cheese, grated (about 2 Tbsp.)
1 lb. Italian pork sausage
pepperoni
The toppings are completely up to you. Use the cheese though. All of it. The special thing about the sausage pizza at Gino's East is that it's put on the pizza as a giant sausage patty. Oh yeah. What I do is flatten it out into a big patty in a frying pan, then split it down the middle to make it easier to flip. Cook the sausage, then put it on a paper towel-lined plate to soak up some of the grease. We'll get to the rest of the assembly instructions later.
Directions:
To make the dough, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook on low speed. Mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add the water and melted butter and continue mixing on low speed until fully incorporated, 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is glossy and smooth, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4-5 minutes.
Coat a medium bowl with 1 tsp. of the olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
While the dough is rising, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, oregano and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar and increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups (about 25 minutes). Off the heat, stir in the basil and oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To laminate the dough, turn the dough out onto a dry work surface and roll into an 8x6 inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With the seam side down, flatten the cylinder into a 9x2 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds like a business letter, pinch the seams to form a ball, and return to the oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator until nearly doubled in size, 40-50 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. To assemble, coat a 9-inch round cake pan (I used a springform pan) with 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Transfer the dough ball to a dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch disk about 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the pan. Lightly press the dough into the pan, working into the corners and up the sides of the pan. If the dough resists stretching, let rest 5 minutes before trying again.
Okay, here's where you start putting it together: since I used sausage and pepperoni, I placed the sausage on top of the dough, then arranged pepperoni on top of the sausage. Then sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the surface of the pepperoni. Spread the tomato sauce over the cheese and top with parmesan. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving.
This pizza is not for the faint of heart. It's ridiculous how good this pizza tastes, and is completely worth all the time it takes to make the dough. Sailor Boy says while it's not Gino's East, it's still pretty good. And that's good enough for me. :)
