Pit Magazine: Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Yes it's pizza and yes you're an idiot if you say it isn't
Greetings from beautiful, humid-as-fuck Amami Õshima! I’m now busy working on my next big project, but not so busy that I can’t take a few moments to continue promoting the upcoming American issue of Pit Magazine (which, in case you missed it, I co-edited with Anna Ansari). In addition to loads of fascinating articles, the issue also has recipes! And here’s one of them: my own Chicago-style deep dish pizza, which is perhaps deeper and saucier than what you’d usually get in the Windy City, but no less delicious and indulgent. Enjoy! There’s more where this came from – including recipes by Kenji Morimoto and Tom Zahir Browne of Decatur – so do make sure you pre-order!
CLASSIC CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP DISH PIZZA
Most Chicago deep dish pizza origin stories adequately answer the who and the when, but not the question everybody really wants answered: why?! Why does such a baffling, upside-down, pie-like pizza thing exist, and why is it called pizza at all?
No theory with any hard evidence to support it exists, so the definitive reason may be lost to Windy City history forever. However, pizza historian Peter Regas speculates that the story of Chicago-style deep dish pizza was yet another one of immigrant ingenuity and thrift. According to Regas, in 1943 Northern Italy native Ric Riccardo bought a shop on East Ohio Street (the spot that would become Pizzeria Uno, which now claims to have invented the dish) and simply started making pizzas in the cast-iron pans he found in the kitchen, abandoned by the previous owners. I find this explanation simple and satisfactory;indeed, there’s similar lore behind the origins of Detroit-style pizza.
Over time, Chicago deep dish pizza has been shaped by many hands, and it’s become a symbol of the city and its big appetites. But it isn’t actually the pizza most commonly eaten by Chicagoland residents. That honor probably goes to what’s known as “tavern-style” pizza, a cracker-crisp, square-cut, toppings-all-the-way-to-the-edge affair popular throughout Illinois and Wisconsin (and actually originating in Milwaukee). A much more munchable pie, tavern-style is our go-to, everyday pizza. Deep dish, on the other hand, is far more indulgent and filling (a single slice is sufficient for many out-of-towners), so it’s often reserved for special occasions.
Nevertheless, deep dish remains a source of local pride. I’m not from Chicago – I’m from just over the Wisconsin border – but even I have an undying affection for this inimitable pie, and I will defend it fiercely in any pizza-related debate. To anyone who says, “But it’s not pizza!” I would simply reply: you’re an idiot. Not because you’re wrong, necessarily (though you are wrong), but because this is a terrible reason to deny yourself such a patently glorious food.
Serves 4-6
Note: The cheese for this recipe should be very low-moisture mozzarella – the cheap, grated kind in a bag works best. Mozzarella in blocks or balls will not work as they contain too much water and will result in an unpleasantly soft or soggy crust. If you can get it, mild provolone also works very well.
You will need a deep pan – ideally, something that can go from stovetop to oven, like a cast-iron skillet – 9-10 inches in diameter, and 1 ½-2 inches deep.
For the sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
50g tomato puree
2 tins tomatoes (800g total) – either finely chopped (not passata) or peeled plum, broken up into small chunks
15-20g fresh basil, roughly torn
salt and black pepper and/or chilli flakes, to taste
Heat the olive oil and onion in a saucepan over medium heat. When the onion turns translucent, reduce the heat to low, add the garlic, and continue to cook gently for 8-10 minutes, until the garlic and onion have softened and browned slightly. Add the oregano, tomato puree, and tomatoes, raise the heat to medium-high, and bring to a simmer. Return the heat to low, then leave to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and jammy.
Add the torn basil, salt, pepper, and/or chilli flakes, cook for a few more minutes, taste, and add more seasoning as necessary. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
For the dough
1 ½ tsp fast action dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
120ml room-temperature water
240g plain flour, plus more for dusting
3 tbsp polenta, plus more for dusting
¾ tsp fine salt
50g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, sugar, and water until the sugar and yeast dissolve. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the plain flour, polenta, and salt, then add the butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Use a fork to combine, mixing well to disperse the dry ingredients.
Add the yeasted water and stir until a coarse dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until it forms a smooth ball; the dough should be quite shaggy, with flecks of un-mixed butter, so don’t knead too much.
Coat the dough with the remaining olive oil and transfer back into the mixing bowl. Cover loosely with a lid or a clean cloth and leave to rise for one hour.
To assemble and bake
800g Sicilian fennel sausage meat
1 tbsp olive oil
300g very low-moisture mozzarella or provolone cheese (see note above)
a handful grated parmesan cheese
Press the sausage meat into one giant patty, a bit smaller than the diameter of your baking pan.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the patty for about 8-10 minutes, turning it over halfway through cooking, until it is lightly browned and cooked through. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 430°F (220ºC). Dust your work surface with a bit of flour and a bit of cornmeal. Punch the pizza dough down and roll it out into a large circle, big enough to stretch across the full diameter of your pan, with enough extra width to form a crust at least 1 ½ inches deep on the sides.
Lay the rolled-out dough into the pan, pressing down on the sides and in the corners so it fits snugly. Place an even layer of mozzarella on top of the dough, then cover with the sausage patty (and any drippings from the pan), and finally the pizza sauce, in an even layer. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.
Chicago pizza ovens and pans are designed to heat the bottom of the pie quickly and directly to keep them from turning out soggy. Domestic ovens aren’t good at this, so it’s best to start the cooking on a stovetop.
Set the pan on the stovetop over a medium-high heat and cook for about 8-10 minutes, until you can see the upper edges of the crust start to cook through and dry out, and the pie begins to give off a biscuity smell.
Transfer the pan to the bottom of the oven and cook for 35 minutes, until the crust has browned nicely, and everything is hot throughout.
Leave to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving. Have more parmesan and chilli flakes at the ready on the table.
Tim, where are you getting your sausage? As the only Sicilian fennel sausage I have ever bought here are the fat, stubby (compared to British bangers) Italian sausages with a sell by date, but one that is always at least a month hence unlike regular sausages. And those are bloody difficult to get the skins off and break up, let alone then coax the meat into any sort of shape, even a rough flat circle? Thanks!