Today, our youngest daughter turned 31. Happy BD Allycat...we love you! Poor thing...she was sicky maticky. Woke this morning with a sore throat and she got sick during the night...sort of like early pregnancy sick. Upchucking and the whole deal. Not a fun way to start your birthday. Adam had to work overtime this weekend, so they came in yesterday to spend the night...and so we could have a little fun on her BD. Well, that didn't work out so well, but thankfully, she felt better this afternoon and I went ahead and made the dinner I had planned for her. She ate it and it actually tasted good to her. It tasted GREAT to Dennis! Kiki ate her whole piece and so did Grammy. I wish I would have taken pictures today, but Ally wasn't up for picture taking...maybe next week?
Anyhow...I've been looking for a recipe for Chicago Deep Dish pizza. Dennis loves it and so does Ally...so I wanted to find a really good one. I think I found it...and I wanted to not only share it with you all, but have a fast track to find it again should I lose the one I printed off! Here ya go. If you have a cast iron skillet, make sure it's seasoned and GO!
Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
This makes a deep dish pizza that tastes very close to a Pizzeria Uno's Deep Dish Pizza.
Makes One 12-inch Chicago deep-dish pizza
Total Time: about 7 hours (6 hour dough rise, 30 to 45 minutes baking)
CRUST:
1 1/2 cups (11 oz) (scant) Water (room temperature- about 70-F to 80-F)
1 teaspoon (0.38 oz) White Granulated Sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (0.25 oz) Active Dry Yeast (or 1 packet)
3 1/2 cups (18 oz) All-Purpose Flour (don't use bread flour, we want a biscuit like dough)
1 teaspoon (0.25 oz) Table Salt
1/2 cup Olive oil
-Add sugar and yeast to water, stir well. If not using instant yeast, allow the yeast to bloom in water for about 15-minutes.
If using instant yeast, you can use the water mixture right away.
-Stir in olive oil.
-Stir in flour and salt. Mix well. -
-Mix for 1 minute then knead for 2 minutes. Add more flour or warm water, a Tablespoon at a time, as needed, to make a workable dough.
-Don't over-knead, we want a biscuit like dough for deep dish pizza.
-Form dough into a ball, place in a large mixing bowl, coat dough lightly with oil, cover bowl and let dough rise in a warm place for 6 hours. {I only let mine rise for about an hour}
-Punch down dough and allow it to rest 10 to 15 minutes.
Assemble Pizza:
-Roll out or press dough into a 12-inch deep-dish pizza pan or cast iron skillet that has been generously oiled with olive oil. Press dough evenly onto bottom and up inner sides of deep dish pizza pan/skillet.
-1st - Add a layer of sliced mozzarella as the bottom layer, on top of the dough. Place the cheese in tile-like layers covering the dough on the pan bottom.
-2nd - Add toppings, evenly distributed across pizza, as the middle layer.
-3rd - Finally add sauce, evenly, as the top layer. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil.
-Bake the deep-dish pizza in a preheated 475-degrees F oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust is a light golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.
PIZZA FILLING:
Bottom Layer: Cheese
1/2 pound sliced mozzarella cheese
Middle Layer: Toppings
1/2 pound Italian Pizza Sausage, hot or mild, crumbled, raw
1/2 pound Pepperoni, sliced thin
1/2 Yellow Onion, cut into thin rings
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, cored and cut into thin rings
1/2 cup Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup Black Olives, thinly sliced
Top Layer: Sauce (makes 3 cups)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil, crushed
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon Anise Seeds or Fennel Seeds
1/2 teaspoon Table Salt, (or to taste)
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper, freshly ground
1/8 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, (or to taste)
1 (28 oz) can Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes, lightly squished (use "6 in 1 Brand - All Purpose Ground Tomatoes", if you can find it)
1/2 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon White Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese - to sprinkle on top
1/4 cup Olive Oil - to drizzle over top
In a saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the herbs, seeds, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and sugar, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before using.
Ladle the sauce over sliced mozzarella cheese and toppings as the top layer on the deep-dish pizza.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over sauce and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake the deep-dish pizza in a 475-degrees F oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust is a light golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes while you get the drinks served up and the salad on the table. Lift from skillet with a couple of large spatulas and place on a large cookie sheet to cut with a sharp pizza cutter or large knife.
{recipe change today: Instead of making my own sauce entirely from scratch, I used about 2/3 c. Dei Fratelli' Pizza Sauce that I had on hand. To that, I added 1/2 qt. fresh canned tomatoes that I drained and crushed in my hand. Put both of those in a pan and added 1 T. olive oil, 1 t. dried basil, 1 t. dried oregano, 2 cloves fresh garlic (pressed), fennel, balsamic vinegar, sugar, 1/2 t. salt and some fresh ground pepper. Let that meld together on low heat, just long enough to melt the frozen pizza sauce. {I use 1/2 can of sauce for one pizza...and had 1/2 can leftover from last time that I put in a ziplock back and put in the freezer!} Just let that sit on the stove until I had the pizza put together, the ladled it over the top! Tasted JUST LIKE authentic!!}
I'd love to share my source, but I can't find it again! Actually, I think I remember somewhere on the recipe that it was a "CopyKat recipe for Pizzaria Uno's Deep Dish Pizza". If you google it, you might find it! : ) In the meantime, know I didn't make it up on my own...I just stumbled across it! And I'm glad I did!
