Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

PIZZA CRUST (MAKES 2)

3 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
½ cup yellow cornmeal
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2 and 1/4 teaspoons Red Star Platinum yeast (1 standard packet)
1 and 1/4 cups slightly warm water
1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided (1/4 cup melted, 1/4 cup softened to room temperature)
olive oil for coating

TOMATO SAUCE FOR BOTH PIZZAS

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, grated (about 1/3 cup)*
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, but recommended)
3 garlic cloves, minced
one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes*
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

TOPPINGS FOR BOTH PIZZAS

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese*
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
optional and what I use: handful of pepperoni per pizza, 4 slices cooked and then crumbled bacon (2 per pizza)
additional optional toppings: cooked and crumbled sausage, thinly sliced green peppers and/or onions, sliced mushrooms (add enough to suit your tastes)

For the crust:

Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.

Add the warm water and 1/4 cup of melted butter. The warm water should be around 90°F (32°C).

Make sure it is not very, very hot or it will kill the yeast. Likewise, make sure the butter isn’t boiling hot. If you melt it in the microwave, let it sit for 5 minutes before adding.

On low speed, beat (or stir) the dough ingredients until everything begins to be moistened.

Continuing on low speed beat the dough until it is soft and supple and gently pulls away from the sides of the bowl and falls off of the dough hook- about 4-5 minutes. If the dough is too hard (it will be textured from the cornmeal), but if it feels too tough, beat in a teaspoon of warm water.

Alternatively, if it feels too soft, beat in a Tablespoon of flour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and form into a ball.

Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside, turning it around so that all sides of the dough are coated in the oil.

Cover the bowl tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1-2 hours or until double in size. For this warm environment, here is what I do: Preheat oven to 250°F (121°C). Once at 250°F, turn oven off. Place bowl inside. Close the oven. The lingering heat will help your dough rise. This is especially ideal on cold winter days.

Once the dough is ready, lightly flour a large work surface. Remove dough from the bowl, set the bowl and aluminum foil aside (to use later).

Gently punch down the dough to remove any air bubbles and roll the dough into a large 15×12 inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup of softened butter on top of the dough. Roll it up lengthwise. Cut the dough log in half. Form the two pieces of dough into balls and place back into your greased bowl. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rise in the refrigerator (not in a warm place) for 1 hour until they are puffy as you make the sauce.

For the sauce:

Place butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and allow it to melt.

Once melted, add the grated onion, salt, and oregano.

Once the onion has slightly browned after about 5 minutes, add the garlic, tomatoes, and sugar.

Turn the heat down to low-medium and allow it to simmer until it’s hearty, fragrant, and thick- about 30 minutes.

You’ll have about 2 and 1/2 cups of sauce at this point. If you have more than that, keep simmering until the amount has reduced.
Remove from heat and set aside until ready to be used.

Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).

Assemble the pizzas:

After the dough balls have risen in the refrigerator, they should be puffy. Keep one ball of dough in the refrigerator as you work with the first one.

Roll it out on a lightly floured work surface, working it into a 12-inch circle. Using your rolling pin as a guide, place over a 9×2 inch deep dish cake pan. Using your fingers, press the dough into the cake pan. Make sure it is nice and tight fitting inside the pan. Trim any excess dough off the edges with a small knife. Repeat with 2nd dough. Brush the top edges of the dough with a little olive oil, which gives the crust a beautiful sheen.
Fill each pizza with 1/2 of the cheese (about 2 cups per pizza), then your toppings which I’ve listed as optional in the recipe ingredients. On top of those optional toppings is the sauce. Pour about 1 and 1/4 cups of sauce on top of each. If you do not like that much sauce, you can reduce to 3/4 cup per pizza and have leftover sauce. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese.

Place the cake pans on top of a large baking sheet, which will catch anything potentially spilling over the sides of the pans. (Nothing usually does.)

Bake for 20-28 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Feel free to loosely cover the pizzas with aluminum foil after the 15 minute mark to prevent any heavy browning and uneven baking. Remove the pizzas from the oven and allow to cool in the pans placed on a wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slice, serve, and enjoy.

Serving Size: 2 Nine Inch Deep Dish Pizzas with 4 servinges each

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user PATRICKVAILLANT.