Deep Dish Pizza is a Chicago classic. It’s literally deep and filled with different complementing layers that make a pizza great… Just that it’s kind of upside down! Cheese comes first, then protein or toppings, then the pizza sauce. Nonetheless, it’s one of the most brilliant ways pizza is presented.
I collaborated with Adam of Omnivorous Adam, a Chicago local and a good friend, and he taught me how to make deep-dish pizza. Afterward, I taught him how to make spicy garlic fried chicken. It was a fun day, so check it out!
I’ve been to Chicago a handful of times and I’ve only tried the deep dish pizza once. It was such a long time ago, but I did remember how good it was. That’s why I am so psyched to learn from Adam!! He shared so many tips and tricks to make this one of the easiest and the best pizzas I’ve ever tasted. Let’s go!
Deep Dish Pizza Dough Recipe
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The pizza dough for deep dish pizza is unlike the typical soft bread-like texture we commonly know. For this recipe, it’s best to make the crust ahead of time because you will need to “
rest” it several times to hydrate it and keep it from rising. Specific instructions are on the recipe card.
The goal is for the texture to be more like a biscuit when cooked; flaky and soft. It should hold up, even when all the ingredients are placed on top.
Best Topping for Homemade Deep Dish Pizza
For the main protein, we used Hot Italian Sausage links we got from the South Philly Italian Market, and it was FIRE!!! You don’t have to use spicy ones though, just use a really good quality sausage that you prefer! The most common topping used in Chicago-style pizza is actually sausage. But if you like other toppings like onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc., you can put all that good stuff in too!
For the cheese, Adam used whole fat and part-skim mozzarella combined. One is for the flavor, and the other is for that awesome cheese pull. Man, typing this brought me back to that moment when I tasted it! Oooooh!
Adam’s Pizza Sauce with a Twist
For the sauce, you will need two cans of San Marzano whole or chunky tomato sauce. You’ll be draining these using your hands because we’ll only be needing the chunks of tomatoes. Make sure to get your hands in there and give it that “sohn mat”!
We don’t want the juice because that’ll make the whole thing a wet ass pizza. We don’t want none of that here fam!! Kakaka kidding aside, the juice will bleed through the crust if you don’t drain it well.
We won’t be cooking the sauce anymore, instead, we’ll just be seasoning it. The main reason for this is because we’ve drained the whole thing and it should reduce even more when it gets to the oven. And you might be wondering, why the fish sauce?? It’s optional, but adding a really small amount will give it the umami-ness without the fishy taste. Brilliant, right??
Assembling Deep Dish Pizza in Cast Iron Skillet
According to Adam, this is the most basic form of a deep-dish pizza recipe that he formulated when he went to different pizza joints in Chicago. In my opinion though, if this is basic then imagine what it’ll be like when you step it up a notch?? Nah mean??
When you’re assembling it, the first thing to do is butter your cast iron skillet very well. When you butter it up properly, you won’t have a problem removing the pizza. To bring it up a notch, spread parmesan or piave onto the skillet so that it caramelizes beautifully onto the crust. Be generous with that cheese!!!
When placing the crust, make sure to stretch it to the ends of the skillet so it resembles a deep dish or a bowl for the pizza toppings. Then goes the cheese, the sausage, and the sauce. The ratio ideally is as much cheese and sausage as you want!!!
Do note that those contain fat so it’ll render upon baking. Balance the amount of cheese and meat you’re happy with, and the amount enough to hold all that liquid that forms. As for the sauce, do not put too much. Just put enough to cover the whole pizza.
The Aftermath
When you take it out of the oven, you’ll know it’s ready when you see that the crust has turned golden brown and crispy. When you take it out, the crust will still be a little loose so let it rest for 15 minutes. While waiting, you can use a paper towel to soak up visible grease, just to remove additional liquid content from the pizza. You’ll notice that the pizza sets after resting, then it’ll be good to go!
When you remove the pizza from the skillet, take your time. Use a butter knife to scrape the sides and a spatula to carefully pull it out of the pan. It should slide right off without a hitch. It will hold up well if you butter it enough and if your cast iron does its job.
Controversially, this is served with a fork and knife to keep from all the mess. But honestly, we just dove in and it was so good! For any leftovers, store in the fridge for three days and just reheat in the microwave or oven~
Other snacks that you might like:
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Homemade Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
Pizza Dough (Ingredients in grams to get correct texture)
- 250 grams Bread Flour
- 25 grams Cornmeal
- 75 grams Olive Oil
- 3 grams Instant Yeast
- 5 grams Kosher Salt
- 100 grams Warm Water
Pizza Sauce
- 2 cans San Marzano Chunky or Crushed Tomatoes Drained
- 2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 2 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- Dash of Fish Sauce
Pizza Toppings
- Stick of Butter
- 1/2 cup Piave Vecchio or Parmesan Cheese Crumbled
- 1/2 lb Whole Fat Mozzarella Shredded
- 1/2 lb Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded
- 1-2 lbs Hot Italian Sausage Links Removed from casing
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- In a stand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix to combine.
- Mix olive oil with the dry ingredients. Make sure to coat everything with oil before putting water to stop gluten formation.
- When the dough is already crumbly, add water and mix until it forms a shaggy dough. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
- After resting, knead the dough for 4 minutes, then rest again for another 4 minutes.
- Knead again for another 4 minutes, form a ball with the dough, then rest for 2 hours minimum.
Pizza Sauce
- Drain the juice using your extremely clean hands to get the tomato chunks. Drain it really well so no juice will bleed through the crust. Set aside tomato juice for other recipes.
- Once chunks of tomatoes are separated, season them with red wine vinegar, dried oregano, sugar, salt, and fish sauce. Fish sauce should only be a little amount to give it umami, but not too much to taste it.
- Mix it up and set aside. No need to cook the sauce because it’s going to naturally reduce in the oven.
Pizza Toppings
- Shred mozzarellas, combine them, and set aside.
- Remove sausage from the casings. With wet hands, form a disk that’s about 1/3 inch thick and the size of the skillet. Use as much sausage as you like.
Pizza Assembly
- Butter the whole cast iron skillet so that the pizza don’t stick, then spread the parmesan or piave on the skillet generously.
- Spread the dough on the circumference of the skillet, forming a deep dish or bowl for the pizza toppings. Poke holes on the dough so it does not rise as much.
- Layer the cheese, then the sausage disk, then a thin layer of the tomato sauce just enough to cover the pizza. Top with more piave.
Baking and Serving
- Bake the deep dish pizza at 425F for 35-40 minutes.
- After baking, crust should look golden brown and crispy.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Once the pizza has set, it is ready.
- Carefully scrape the sides of crust and using a spatula, pull the pizza out of the skillet. It should come off while holding its own.
- Slice and serve. Eat with a fork and knife to prevent any mess. Enjoy!
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