Chicago Style Deep-Dish Pizza

To be honest, I have never eaten true Chicago Deep Dish pizza before. But after watching a Food Network special, I just had to try it. Since I live in Utah and there isn't any available here to buy, I got brave and decided to make my best attempt. I don't know how the "real" stuff tastes, but this was way good! Please note below, however, the times it requires. This is something you have to plan ahead, and give it plenty of baking time. It whets the appetite. :)

For the crust:

"World's Best Pizza Crust"
2 tbsp dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. sugar
2 cups cold water
3 tbsp oil (I use extra virgin olive for flavor)
1/4 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 cup corn meal
5-7 cups flour

1) Combine yeast, warm water, and 2 Tbsp sugar; let stand about 5 minutes.
2) In roomy bowl or mixer, combine cold water, oil, sugar, salt, garlic, and oregano until blended. Add the corn meal and then 2 cups of flour, mix well.
3) Add the bloomed yeast mixture, and then the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well, until the dough pulls away from the sides and becomes a cohesive ball. Knead for 10 minutes. kneading is extremely important in pizza crust to achieve that wonderfully chewy texture.
4) Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a lid. Store in the fridge for 1 to 3 DAYS. (This very long rise allows the yeast to actually flavor the dough.)
*Please note this makes enough dough for 2 very large pizzas. If you don't want to make 2, you have several options: keep the dough for a second pizza a few days later, freeze the dough and thaw later for another pizza, prepare a second whole pizza and freeze that, leave out the garlic and oregano and use leftover dough to make something else, like cinnamon sugar crisps.

Chunky Tomato Pizza Sauce
2 of the BIG cans, or 2 quarts homemade diced tomatoes (not the flavored kind, just plain regular
1 onion
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp dry oregano*
1 tsp dry basil*
1 tsp dry thyme*
1/2 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp molasses

1) Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Chop onion fine and add that to the heated oil. Cook for 3 minutes until onion softens.
3) Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until sauce reduces by half and is to desired thickness. Place a lid half way on, or a splatter screen, while reducing, because it can pop a little bit. Cool and store for usage when pizza time comes along.
*ingredients with an asterisk can be replaced with 1 tbsp pizza herb blend, or Italian Seasoning.
and finally....
Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza

Chop and assemble your favorite pizza toppings. Here's mine:
Sliced (not shredded) mozzarella cheese AND provolone cheese
1 lb Bulk Mild (or spicy!) Italian sausage (if in the links, remove from casing)--RAW
sliced black olives
chopped bell pepper
sliced, fresh cremini (brown) mushrooms
Also: pizza dough--recipe above
pizza sauce--recipe above

1) Liberally rub the inside of 2 12" cast iron pans with butter.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3) Press pizza dough into the pans and up the sides, about half in each pan. (I ound I still had about 3 cups of dough left over, or enough for 1 small pizza). It should end up about 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thick. It's easier if the dough is room temperature, so remove it from the fridge about 1 hour before assembly time.
4) Think upside-down: layer in sliced mozzarella and provolone cheese on the crust first. Cover the whole surface of the dough with both cheeses. (by putting the cheese on the bottom of the pizza you prevent burning).
5) Press in the raw sausage next, again covering the whole surface in a "disc of sausage" that is about 1/4 inch thick (quite thin)
6) sprinkle in the rest of your toppings.
7) cover the whole top with scoops of the chunky pizza sauce. Top with a little bit of parmesan cheese, if desired.
8) bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour. If your oven can't fit both pizzas on one rack, and you are making 2, then switch racks half way through or even more often than that.
9) When done, let the pizzas sit for about 10 minutes to let the juices cool. Then remove from the pans and to a large cutting board. Dig in!


Editors Notes:
--If you plan on eating at 5, make sure you take the dough out at about 2:30 pm. Start assembling at 3:30 pm. Get the pizzas in the oven at 4. That's about how long it will take you.
--Two large cast iron pans full of pizza is a LOT of pizza. This one recipe, made exactly above, can probably feed 8 or 9 adults dinner, especially if balanced with a salad and dessert.
--Sausage is definitely a traditional Chicago Pizza topping. But if Sausage doesn't float your boat, you can make it with any toppings you like.
--Don't tell anyone that you're making this pizza unless you want them to come over and join you for dinner. Also be cautious of copious amounts of drool.