Chicago Deep Dish Pizza (New and Improved Recipe)
My ultimate Chicago deep dish pizza has a crisp, buttery crust loaded with layers of melted cheese, homemade Italian sausage, pepperoni, and a thick, rustic tomato sauce.
Ingredients
DOUGH (makes 1 pizza):
- 375 g AP flour
- 10 g salt
- 40 g unsalted butter, cold, cubed
- 220 g warm water, 90°F/32°C
- 6 g instant yeast
SAUCE (makes enough for 2 pizzas):
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 100 g white onion, grated, 1 small or ½ large
- 20 g garlic, minced
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes, canned
- 28 oz whole peeled tomatoes, canned
- 75 g tomato paste
- 10 g salt
- 20 g sugar
- 2 g dried oregano
- 2 g dried basil
- 2 g crushed red pepper/chili flakes
HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE (makes enough for 2 pizza):
- 1 lb 80/20 ground pork
- 7 g salt
- 10 g sugar
- 5 g paprika
- 3 g dried sage
- 2 g black pepper
- 2 g red chili flake
- 5 g garlic, grated or finely minced
- 3 g fennel seed, toasted, crushed
- 10 g red wine vinegar
BUILDING THE PIZZA:
- olive oil, extra virgin
- dough, recipe above
- 12-15 slices full fat mozzerella, sliced into a medium thickness
- 5-6 slices provolone, sliced thinly
- 225 g hot italian sausage, recipe above
- pepperoni, thinly sliced
- grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
DOUGH (makes 1 pizza dough):
- Dissolve the yeast into the warm water.
- Add flour, salt, and cold butter to a food processor and spin for about 15 seconds or just until butter is mixed into the flour then stream water/yeast mixture into the flour/butter in the food processor while it's spinning.
- Spin for 45-60 seconds until you have a mass that has come together into a mass that's somewhere between dough and a pie crust.
- Transfer the dough into a bowl, then round it into a ball shape, tucking the ball up under itself several as you go to create some tension across the surface of the ball.
- Cover the dough with a lid or plastic wrap and allow it to ferment at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate, covered, for 12-24 hours.
SAUCE (makes enough for 2 pizzas):
- Heat a sauce pan over medium high heat. Add in butter and allow to mostly melt, then add onion and garlic, cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and soft.
- While the onions cook, in a large bowl or container, combine the tomato products and use your hands mix and squish the whole tomatoes into smaller ½"/1.5cm pieces. You could also blitz a few times with an immersion blender if you prefer, but the hand method gives you more control and creates a nice rustic texture.
- Into the tomato mixture, stir in salt, sugar, oregano, basil, and chili flakes.
- Back to the onions/garlic on the stove… When the onions and garlic have softened and have taken on some color, add the tomato mixture into the sauce pan. Lower heat to medium and reduce the sauce by 40-50% which should take 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, the sauce should be quite thick and hold a bit of a trail when you pass a spoon through it.
HOT ITALIAN SAUSAGE (makes enough for 2 pizzas):
- Combine all ingredients and mix well until combined and slightly tacky.
BUILDING THE PIZZA:
- Remove dough from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about 30-45 minutes before rolling it out. When it's ready to roll it should have increased in size by about 30%. If it hasn't, proof a bit longer at room temperature before rolling out.
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C prep your ingredients.
- Add a very generous amount of olive oil to your pizza pan, spreading it around to coat the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Flour your work surface and flip dough out onto the work surface, flouring both sides of the dough. Pat a bit to degas, then use a rolling pin to roll it out into a 14"/35cm round, adding a bit more flour to any areas that are sticking to the rolling pin along the way.
- Flip the rolled out dough over one hand/arm then gently lay it into the oiled pizza pan, pressing the dough up the sides of the pan and into the corners, ensuring there aren't any air bubbles underneath.
- Shingle on 12-15 slices of the medium-thick full fat mozzarella, followed by 5-6 slices of provolone.
- Next add about half of the italian sausage (8oz) in quarter-sized pieces.
- Spoon on half of the sauce then spread into an even layer to cover.
- Top that with 25-30 slices of thin pepperoni.
- Finally, finish with a generous amount of grated parmesan.
- Bake at 425°F/220°C for 45 minutes.
- After baking, remove pizza from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes to keep the crust crisp.
- Return to the pizza pan to cut (this keeps it warmer a little longer) or cut it on a cutting board for cleaner slices.
- Serve and garnish with more parmesan.
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