Chicago Style Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza Crust Recipes

THE REAL CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Combine yeast mixture, flour, corn oil, and kosher salt in a large stand mixer with a hook attachment; knead until dough holds together but is still slightly sticky, about 2 minutes.
• Form dough into a ball and transfer to a buttered bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a towel and allow dough to rise at room temperature until double in size, 6 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Press dough into a 10-inch deep dish pizza pan.

TRUE CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Mix sugar, yeast and 11 ounces room temperature water (about 80 degrees) in a bowl and let bloom for 15 minutes. Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once yeast has bloomed, add to dry ingredients along with corn oil. Gently combine with a rubber spatula until a rough ball is formed.
• Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 90 seconds. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and proof until doubled in size, about 6 hours. Punch down and let dough settle for 15 more minutes.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Coat bottom and sides of a 12-inch cake pan or traditional Chicago style pizza pan with melted butter. Using your hands, spread out about three-quarters of the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan (save the remainder for another use). Cover entire bottom in mozzarella, all the way up to the edge. Cover half with a thin, even layer of raw sausage. Cover the other half with the pepperoni. Top with a couple handfuls of crushed tomatoes. Spread out with hands to the edge. Sprinkle top evenly with grated Parm.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edge, about 25 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes, then either gently lift pizza out of pan or just cut your slice out of the pan like a pie!

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sprinkle in yeast and let dissolve, about 10 minutes. Add olive oil, melted butter, sugar, salt, cornmeal, and most of the flour. Knead, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally and adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead in extra flour if needed. Roll into a ball and place in a bowl greased with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Cover with a plate and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, let pizza sauce simmer in a pot over low heat until very thick, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Poke dough to deflate and turn out onto your work surface. Press and stretch out dough into a round shape 3 to 4 inches larger than a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Brush skillet with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place dough in the skillet; stretch and pull to evenly distribute it over the bottom and sides.
• Lay provolone cheese over the bottom of the crust. Scatter fresh mozzarella on top. Add Italian sausage and firm mozzarella. Ladle pizza sauce generously on top. Grate Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the edges of the crust in towards the center to seal in the sides. Drizzle crust and center with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until crust sounds hollow and pizza is beautifully browned, about 35 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

CHICAGO-STYLE STUFFED PIZZA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add oil and salt. Add 1-1/2 cups flour and cornmeal; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down; let rest for 5 minutes. Divide into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion to a 12-in. circle. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 10-in. ovenproof skillet., Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, cook sausage, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Parmesan cheese and oregano. Add to prepared crust. , On a lightly floured surface, roll remaining dough into an 11-in. circle. Place over pizza; seal edges. Cut four slits in top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Spread with tomato sauce.

CHICAGO STYLE DEEP DISH STUFFED PIZZA CRUST

Steps:

• 1. 1) To make the crust: Combine the dry ingredients and the oils and butter, mixing till crumbs form. Then add the water, and mix and knead - by hand, stand mixer, or bread machine set on the dough cycle - to make an elastic, fairly stiff dough
• 2. 2) Place in a large, greased bowl; cover, and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour. For best flavor, after its initial 1-hour rise, refrigerate the dough for several hours, or for up to 24 hours. You can use the crust after its first 1-hour rise, but its flavor will improve with the longer, slower rise offered by refrigeration
• 3. To make the sauce: sauté the coarsely grated onion in the butter till it's beginning to color.
• 4. Add the crushed garlic, and sauté for about 30 seconds.
• 5. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, sugar, and salt, and simmer gently for up to 1 hour, to concentrate the flavors.
• 6. To assemble the pizza: Divide the dough into two pieces. One should be about three-quarters of the dough; the other, one-quarter. If you have a scale, one piece should weigh about 36 ounces; the other, about 13 ounces.
• 7. Divide each piece of dough in half again. Butter the bottom and sides of two 9" x 2"-deep round cake pans, then drizzle olive oil in the bottom of each.
• 8. Stretch, then roll one of the larger pieces of dough into a round large enough (about 15" to 16") to line the bottom and sides of one pan, with some overhang. Do the same with one of the smaller pieces of dough, rolling it to about 9" to 10". Cover the pieces of dough, and go away for 15 minutes. This will relax the dough's gluten, allowing you to handle it without it shrinking.
• 9. Once the first two pieces of dough are rolled and resting, repeat with the other two pieces, covering them till you're ready to use them.
• 10. After 15 minutes, place one of the larger pieces of dough in the pan, pressing it gently into the corners; you'll have some overhang.
• 11. Spread half the cooked sausage or meats over the crust, gently patting it flat.
• 12. Top with half the sliced mozzarella. Spread with half the spinach, or any additional filling of your choice.
• 13. Place the smaller piece of dough atop the filling. Fold over the overhanging edges of dough, and squeeze/crimp to seal. Poke holes all over the top crust, to allow steam to escape.
• 14. Repeat with the remaining dough and ingredients, making another 9" round pizza.
• 15. Preheat the oven to 425°F (with your pizza stone on a lower shelf, if you're using a stone). While the oven preheats, allow the pizza(s) to rest/rise, covered, for about 30 minutes.
• 16. Just before baking, top the pizzas with the sauce, and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
• 17. Bake the pizzas till the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes.
• 18. Remove the pizzas from the oven, and allow them to set for about 15 minutes. Loosen their edges, and gently turn them out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
• 19. Serve warm, with a fork. Use a pair of scissors or baker's bench knife to cut wedges.

CHICAGO STYLE STUFFED PIZZA

Steps:

• To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in 1 cup warm water; in a separate small bowl combine the yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix together and let rest in bowl for about 20 minutes, until foamy.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together remaining 2 1/2 cups flour with cornmeal and salt; remove half of this mixture from bowl and stir 1 cup sugar water into bowl. When well mixed, return second half of flour/cornmeal mixture to bowl and mix all together; then stir in yeast mixture. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 12 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). To Make Stuffing: In a large bowl combine the sausage, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepperoni, onion, bell pepper, oregano and garlic. Mix well.
• Press half of the dough in the bottom and up the sides of a lightly greased deep dish pan. Bake crust in preheated oven for 4 minutes, then add the stuffing mixture to the bottom crust and cover with top crust; seal edges together with fingers, and trim excess. Slit top crust to allow steam to vent during baking; top with tomato sauce.
• Bake on lower rack at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut and serve.

CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, cornmeal, yeast, sugar and salt. In a saucepan, heat water and oil to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add remaining flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes., Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each portion into an 11-in. circle. Press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of two greased 10-in. cast-iron or other ovenproof skillets. Sprinkle each with 2 cups mozzarella cheese., In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and seasonings. Spoon 1-1/2 cups over each pizza. Layer each with half of the sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms; 1 cup mozzarella; and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. , Cover and bake at 450° for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake until lightly browned, about 5 minutes longer.,