The Fresh Loaf

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MMmmmm, pizza

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

MMmmmm, pizza

Here's my first attempt at Chicago style deep-dish. I made it in a 12" cast iron pan. The results were outstanding! I really enjoyed the flaky, biscuit-like crust.

-Joe

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pizzameister's picture
pizzameister

Joe,

Looks extremely edible!

gary

dstroy's picture
dstroy

wow! That looks good! And that's saying a lot considering I've had no appetite for *anything* this week!

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

Thanks :) It was quite edible ;) Perhaps one of the best pies I've ever had, in fact.
We used veggie-sausage crumbles first, then a layer of turkey pepperoni, some fresh basil leaves, a combination of gruyere and provolone cheeses, and some Francesco Rinaldi chunky tomato sauce. It was incredible.
Baking it in the cast iron was nice, too. It slid right out. That pan's better than non-stick!

-Joe

JohnnyX's picture
JohnnyX

hey, the pizza looks delicious. could you please post the recipe? My brother is just crazy for deep dish pizza. I'd like to make him some sometime.
Thanks!
~Dave

Teresa_in_nc's picture
Teresa_in_nc

Great looking pizza! I'll have to try the veggie-sausage crumbles. I use my cast iron skillet to make deep dish pizza also - makes a great pizza and no special "deep dish" pan to buy.

~Teresa

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

This recipe was from a guy named Buzz over at Pizzamaking.com. I scaled it up a wee bit for use in my pan. Next time I'm going to use 1/2 cup more flour and keep the oil the same, raising the water to make up for it.

Flour measured by volume: fluffing, spooning into the measure, and leveling:

2 cups KA bread flour
1 round tsp IDY
1/2 cup warm water (I go with 90-100 degrees F)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt
7 TBS (not tsp.) oil (6 canola, 1 extra light olive oil)

When the dough came out of the bowl (mixing by hand) it was very scrappy and not cohesive. After about a minute of kneading, it was a nice ball. It was a lot like working with pie crust dough. You don't want to knead it too far (or it'll be tough), maybe two minutes total. Just get it into a smooth ball.

Procedure:


  1. Mix. I usually mix the flour, IDY, salt and sugar together, then add the water. Then slowly add oil until things come together. If still too dry, add a little more water. See note above about what the dough will look like. It's not going to be like regular NY style dough.
  2. Leave to rise. I let mine rise in a cool place about 5 hours. You could leave it in the fridge overnight, or in a warmer place for less time. It's not going to double in size.
  3. Roll out flat to about 12" round.
  4. Fold in half twice.
  5. Rest 5 minutes.
  6. Repeat steps 3-5 twice.
  7. Preheat oven to 500.
  8. Roll out flat to about 14" round.
  9. Press the dough into the pan.
  10. Immediately put the pan in the oven for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to 450 as soon as it goes in.
  11. Take the pan out, and put your toppings on the par-baked crust (see my post above for order of toppings).
  12. Back in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the crust is nice and brown, and the sauce is nice and bubbly.

Hope this helps,

-Joe

Teresa_in_nc's picture
Teresa_in_nc

And here is a photo of my deep dish pizza using Buzz's recipe from Pizzamaking.com!

Teresa

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