“Ho-Made” Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Received this recipe in an email from King Arthur’s flour – (recipe here) – for Chicago Deep Dish pizza, and decided to try it out. I followed the recipe ingredients precisely with one notable difference, I used King Arthur’s Perfect Pizza Blend flour in lieu of “All Purpose.”

The recipe says this makes one large pie, but with 4 C of flour, in my experience, that’s more dough that you will need. I ended up with two extra balls of dough (which I freeze, with good results, thawing overnight in the frig before using), enough for another couple of 12″ thin crusts.

Another mistake I made was using a fairly deep springform pan. While it made for easy removal of the pie, I had tried to bring the crust over the top of the pan for shape, and that was a goof on my part, but correctable, tho not aesthetically pleasing, after baking.

I make my dough with the KitchenAid, 7 minutes with the dough hook. This recipe calls for 3 T of corn meal, and Mrs. BDB likes her ‘za to have more than that. After a 90 minute rise, I rolled the dough out with my “Swedish Rolling Pin” (what my mother called it, not sure of the actual name), and I fold the dough in quarters to make placement in the pan easier.

I let it rest in the pan for 15 minutes while pre-heating the oven.  Baked ten minutes while I was preparing the Italian sausage, which I formed and shaped into the same size of the pie, and pre-cooked so that the fat wouldn’t make the crust soggy.

Assembly, in the traditional Chicago deep dish manner, is a) crust, b) sausage, c) sauce, d) chopped tomatoes and a bit more cheese for effect.   Bake for 25 minutes and then let it rest for 15 before attempting to slice.

I was quite pleased with the results, it’s a fairly good clone of Lou Malnati’s or other Chicago outlets.   I used a combination of provolone and mozzarella for the bottom layer of cheese and a sprinkle of Asiago for the top.   The sauce was cheap Contadina pizza sauce in a can, which I favor, and the sausage was Johnsonville Hot Italian links that I removed the casings and flattened out.    Extra garlic, fennel, and basil for me, please!

My only real disappointment was the crust.   While I have had spectacular results with King Arthut’s Pizza Blend for thin crust pizzas, it wasn’t the best choice here, the sides of the pie were cooked far more than the bottom, resulting in a range of crispy to chewy, which probably most people will like.

Even a small (10-12″) will feed three.  So if you aren’t planning on freezing dough, you might halve this recipe.

Pics below show the sausage pre-cooking (drain before putting in the pie), the pie just out of the oven (note the crust is “too high”), and a cross section of a slice.