THIS PIZZA IS REDONKULOUSLY GOOD!!!! OMG, IF YOU WANT TO FREAK YOUR FACE OFF WITH PURE CHEESY GOODNESS JOY, MAKE THIS PIZZA!!!
Chicago and Deep Dish Pizza go together like bacon and eggs, George Michael and that other guy from wham, teenage girls and vampires, Milli and Vanilli (girl, you know it’s true), Rush Limbaugh and hating liberals, and Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. I’ve lived in Chicago for over 14 years and I always wanted to master deep dish pizza. I’m happy to report I finally nailed the son of a bitch! When I took my first bite of this pizza I cried…..not full on ugly cry…..but little tears of joy sprung from my eyes….I couldn’t believe I made something so unbelievably good!
I have made this pizza numerous times for friends and family members, and everybody RAVES about how delicious this is. I’ve been told, on more than one occasion, that this recipe is restaurant quality. I really enjoy going all out to make this pizza, whether it’s for a special occasion or when I want to treat my husband, friends, or family. I promise you, if you make this pizza, everyone in your life will think you’re a God.
You make this entire pizza from scratch. If I want to serve the pizza at 6pm, I usually get started making it around 3pm because the dough needs to rise twice. Now, dough (of any kind) is my Achilles heel. I feel like I suck at making dough. I’m so afraid of over mixing (or under mixing) and having a tough or flat product. I have made this pizza more than I can count, and I have over mixed the dough before. It came out kinda tough, but thankfully the rest of the pizza was so delicious no one complained about it! Dough takes practice, and so does this recipe, but my goodness, you really should attempt this amazing pizza, it’s worth the time and effort you put into it.
Being from Chicago, it’s no wonder I’m partial to deep dish pizza. If they were still alive, I would hug the shit out of the person who first invented this marvelous, ooey-gooey cheesy pie of happy town. Thin pizza is wonderful too, but nothing beats a big mouthful of extra melted cheese, rich buttery crust, savory tomato sauce with a touch of sweet…….oh man……I’m having a “moment”…..give me a second alone with this pizza will you?
Here are a few extra pictures to help show how to laminate the dough:
Spill the dough onto a dry work surface and roll into a 15×12-inch rectangle.
Using a knife (or offset spatula) spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border along the edges.
Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder (mine should have been a bit tighter, but it still worked out wonderfully).
With seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18×4-inch rectangle.
Cut rectangle in half crosswise. You’ll be able to see all the luscious scrumptious layers of buttery goodness!
Fold into thirds and pinch seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the other half of dough.
Note, when first mixing the dough, I use my handy dandy KitchenAid Standing Mixer. It makes short work out of mixing and kneading the dough. If you don’t have one, you can certainly knead the dough by hand, but if you cook/bake a lot, and have it in your budget, a standing mixer is a great investment!
I really hope you give this Chicago legend a try. It’s takes a good amount of work, but the payoff of flavor is huge! You won’t be disappointed.
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1¼ cups water, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and easily spreadable
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup grated onion
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I love the Glen Muir brand)
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 16 oz of mozzarella cheese, shredded (8oz for each pizza)
- 1 chicken breast, cooked. cut into bite size chunks
- Mushrooms, sliced
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Using your standing mixer, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast.
- Remove the whisk component and replace it with your dough hook.
- Add the melted butter and slowly add the water, a little at a time, mixing on low speed, using a dough hook, until fully combined (scrape the sides and bottom of bowl occasionally to help the flour combine).
- Increase the mixers speed to medium and knead until the dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, (takes approx 4 to 5 minutes).
- Coat a large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Using a greased spatula, transfer the dough to the bowl. Turn the dough and coat both sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with either a clean damp cloth, or tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size (approx 60 minutes).
- While dough rises, heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted.
- Add onion, oregano, and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to about 2½ cups, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan off the heat, stir in the basil and olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
- Spill the dough onto a dry work surface and roll into a 15x12-inch rectangle.
- Using a knife (or offset spatula) spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½ inch border along the edges.
- Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18x4-inch rectangle.
- Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Fold into thirds and pinch seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the other half of dough.
- Return both balls of dough to the oiled bowl. Either cover the bowl with a clean damp cloth, or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in size (approx 50 minutes).
- While the dough is resting a second time, move the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Coat two, 9-inch round cake pans, with 2 tablespoons olive oil each.
- Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch circle.
- Transfer dough to the pan by rolling the dough loosely around a rolling pin and unrolling into pan.
- Lightly press the dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides. (If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5-10 minutes and try again).
- Repeat with remaining dough ball.
- Once the dough is in ready to go in both pans, sprinkle mozzarella evenly over the dough for each pizza (each pizza gets 8oz of cheese).
- Top each pizza with the cooked chicken breasts.
- Spread half of the tomato sauce over the cheese and chicken for 1 pizza, and repeat for the second pizza.
- Top each pizza with sliced mushrooms
- Sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce on each pizza.
- Bake until crust is golden brown, approx 20 to 30 minutes.
- Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving, otherwise you will burn your mouth on hot lava cheese.
I normally cook my chicken breast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I'll start the chicken first, then start making the dough. By the time you're ready to add the chicken as a topping, it's cooled off enough to handle. You can make the chicken a day beforehand if you want.
This crazy good pizza is adapted from Cooks Illustrated.
love this pizza!!!!!!! Thank you Shock Munch!!!!! mmmmm smunch smunch!!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to turn people onto deliciousness whenever I can!