Growing up in Santa Monica we had a really nice neighborhood spot (Chicago Pizza Works), which honestly was the only place we went for this style of pizza, but it was great (food, service, decor).
We have no great pizza up here anymore and have tried many times to make my own… but the crust was never right. I have actually had better luck with sliced sourdough, browned in OO… then sauced/topped and finished in a medium temp oven.
So I’m thinking about Chicago style (as I actually like eating pizza with a fork (c; ).
My feelings are that Chicago style crust is MUCH better suited to a home oven, and without the high temps and extended proofing times. But… the online recipes I’ve looked at vary widely on ingredients of said crust (flour vs: flour/corn meal, oil vs: butter, etc.).
Anybody make a truly great one who’s willing to share their recipe/method?
This post makes me nostalgic! We had a Pizzeria Uno’s in Houston long ago - it was started by a Texan! - but thank goodness it closed because I had no self-control around those pizzas. I was trying to remember where exactly it was, and ran into a post on Uncle Phaedrus that had a link to a copycat recipe - you might give it a try and let us know how it goes!
(edit: For any Houstonians stumbling on this in the future, our Pizzeria Uno was at 3401 Kirby.)
Thanks… this was on my list as Brian’s is one of my fav channels for most everything (except maybe Mex & Asian). Have you made one?
His sauce sounds very good, but not excited about the long fermented dough. Plus it just doesn’t look like what I’d expect (I actually liked the look of his 1.0 version better). My gut tells me I’d like the crust on it or this guy’s crust better.
I haven’t made the complete recipe but I did make the sauce, which was prettry good. For the crust I’ve made the recipe below a few times with good success…
Lou Malnati’s Chicago Style Deep Dish Clone
Crust gram measurements
10 inch (16 inch)
All purpose flour 250 g (640 g)
Water 112.5 g (288 g)
Corn oil 37.5 g (96 g)
Olive oil 20 g (51 g)
Active dry yeast 2 g (5 g)
Chris’ note:
I added…
Salt 5 g (13 g)
sugar 5 g (13 g)
Sausage recipe (multiply by 2.5 for 16 inch pizza)
1 lb. Ground Pork (90/10)
2 ½ t Morton’s Kosher Salt
1 t Fresh Ground Black Pepper
½ t Sugar
1/6 t Garlic Powder
Corn oil
Whole milk mozarella cheese, sliced
Cento San Marzano tomatoes, hand crushed
Parmesan, grated
Mix dough ingredients in a stand mixer or food processor, work it into a ball and drop it in a large bowl. Let it rise two hours in an off oven, punch it down and then transfer the flat-ish circle of dough from the bottom of the mixing bowl to your lightly corn oiled pan and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then press the crust out from the middle of the pan to the edge and then up around the sides. Apply an even layer of low moisture mozzarella slices (15 slices for 10 inch, 40 for 16 inch). Top the cheese with a layer of about 1 lb (2.5 lbs for 16 inch) of ground 90/10 pork sausage mix. Drain a 28 oz can (3 cans for 16 inch) of Cento San Marzanos and break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and spread them over the top of the sausage. Sprinkle some parmesan over the top. Put it in the bottom rack for 25 minutes at 450.
Notes:
Strain excess sauce from the can of whole tomatoes, then crush, then strain liquid again
The fat from the sausage will pool around the crust after baking, remove it with a turkey baster or the corner of a paper towel.
Chris’ note:
Malnati’s crust doesn’t taste like it has much if any salt so that is a good addition. I may go less on the sugar next time (or omit) as it cause the crust to brown too quickly and the crumb was too soft.
I’m nostalgic for the original Uno’s in Chicago and Pizzeria Due , which was right across the street from Uno’s. They were owned by the same person IIRC but people were vehement about their favorite. I was in college … we went to Due’s. That’s apropos of exactly nothing. I’ve never been to an Uno franchise. Due’s was tasty! I’ve never tried to make a deep dish pizza.
We made the mistake of trying an Uno’s franchise that we’d blotted it from memory until just now. By the way, Ohio Street Uno’s or Due’s – no difference except bragging rights that aren’t worth much in this case, after all, what’s the real point of Due’s ? Who wants to go to Uno’s Across the Street?
I went to Due’s way back in the last century lol. WAYBack. We also went to the Berghoff a couple of times. I don’t even know if it exists any more. The last time I was in Chicago was probably 40 years ago.
Cool! It was a big deal for us to plan the trip from campus to eat there. Loved the rye bread. Our local iconic German restaurant closed more than 2 decades ago. An apartment building occupies its former site.
Berghoff on student budget ! Good stop after Art Institute. Anyway, we last ate there a while ago when bourbon was also offered under Berghoff name along with beer and root beer. Dinner, so no sandwich in bar.
