Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

My first disclaimer is this: I have never been to Chicago. Therefore, I have never eaten authentic pizza in Chicago. A few years ago, I bookmarked the America's Test Kitchen version of this pizza, because it looked so good and I really wanted to make it!

One of my former student's, who is from Chicago, was lamenting that finding authentic Chicago style pizza in California has been  fruitless, for her. She described the pizza as being buttery and crunchy on the outside, with ooey gooey cheese in the middle. Her eyes took on that dreamy look that I get when I recall, and describe in great detail,  one of the best things I've ever eaten. That was it. It was time to make the pizza.

 
What's missing are my usual step-by-step photos. In the winter, I lose the natural photography light, during the dinner hours. So sorry... The pizza crust ingredients include all-purpose flour, of course (I use King Arthur Flour unbleached), cornmeal, yeast, salt and a few others (printable recipe is at the end of this post).


It's the technique of rolling the dough that is a little different. The dough is laminated, and that means it's rolled out and then slathered with softened butter, then folded--creating layers of dough and butter, and then it's chilled.  You then roll the dough into a cake pan, coated with olive oil. The laminated dough (similar to puff pastry) creates steam pockets creating lots of flaky layers.

While the dough is rising, you make a fairly simply pizza sauce with crushed tomatoes, fresh basil and a few other aromatics.

Most of us non-Chicago pizza lovers are used to layering cheese on top of our pizza. In this case, it's the reverse. Freshly grated mozzarella is layered on top of the crust and then topped with pizza sauce, and then given a layer of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. NOTE: the blackened areas is caramelized tomato pizza sauce, and it was actually quite good!

This recipe makes two 9" pizzas, so it's perfect for a Super Bowl party.  I didn't add pepperoni, but next time I think I'll do that for my meat eating boys.

It took about two hours to make the pizza, from start to finish. Best of all, it was delicious!

TASTING NOTES:  I tend to prefer a thin crust pizza, and if it's baked in a wood fire, even better!  However, this thick crust had a tender texture, with a little crunch on the outside. The butter gave the dough a lot of rich flavor.  The sauce was very "tomato-ey" and  thick. I took a shortcut and bought pre-shredded mozzarella. I won't do that, again, because it didn't melt as much as if I had shredded it myself (pre-shredded cheese tends to have an additive that inhibits the ability to full melt). No biggie, because it still tasted great.  Would I make this again? You bet!  Someday, if I ever get the chance to visit Chicago, I'm going to make it my personal mission to try the real deal.  I have no idea if this pizza hit the mark for Chicagoans, but this California girl thinks that melted cheese in the middle rocks it!

Here is the printable recipe.