America's Test Kitchen Chicago Style Pizza

I saw this recipe for Chicago style deep dish pizza on a rerun of America's Test Kitchen a few months ago.  It took me a while to track the recipe down, but it was worth the extra effort.  America's Test Kitchen has yet to steer me wrong with a recipe.

I was a little skeptical about the "buttery crust" but the slight flakiness after being cooked really makes the pizza.

Even though I used less than top quality cheese, tomatoes and sausage, it was the BEST deep dish pizza I've had.  Yeah, even better than the one's I've had to wait over an hour for in Chicago. 

This recipe is for two deep dish pizzas.  I wasn't sure how many servings one pizza would yield so I cooked up both at the same time.  If you are trying to figure out how many people each pizza would serve.  We wound up getting about 5 decent size servings per pizza.  The slices are really filling too. 

The pizza was best reheated in the oven, covered in foil at 350F for 30 min.  It was almost as good as when it came out of the oven the first time.

I was surprised how much Blockette enjoyed this pizza.  The last time I made Chicago style pizza she turned her nose up at it.  Of course, she was much younger then and less open to trying new things.  I'm pretty sure she didn't like the pizza last time because the sauce, not the cheese was on top, and didn't I know I made it WRONG?  It's taken her a while, but she has learned that the weird stuff I make is really tasty...most of the time.

America's Test Kitchen Chicago Style Pizza via My Bizzy Kitchen and Brown Eyed Baker
3¼ c flour
½ c cornmeal
1 t salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 t sugar
2¼ t rapid rise yeast
1¼ c water, room temp
3 T butter, melted
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 t + 4 T EVOO, divided

For the Sauce:
2 T unsalted butter
¼ c grated onion
¼ t dried oregano
½ t salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes
¼ t sugar
2 T coarsely chop fresh basil (I used 1T dried basil)
1 T olive oil
 black pepper

For the Toppings:
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
(Pepperoni or sausage)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I omitted)

Dough: Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in lg bowl. Add water and melted butter and mix on low, using hook, 1-2 min, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase to med and knead til dough glossy, smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4-5 min. Coat lg bowl (ceramic works best for me) w 1 t evoo. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat dough in oil; cover w plastic wrap. Rise at room temp 45-60 min.

Sauce: While dough rises, heat butter in med span over med heat til melted. Add onion, oregano, and salt; cook,til liquid evap and onion gold br, 5 min. Add garlic and cook 30 sec. Add tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and simmer. Lower heat to med-low and simmer til reduced to 2½ c, 25-30 min. Off heat, stir in fresh basil and olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. (As I used dried Basil I added it with the oregano at the beginning of the cooking process.  I also omitted the olive oil in the sauce.)

 Laminate Dough: Turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15x12" rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread soft butter over dough, leaving a ½" border along edges. Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder. W seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18x4" rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Working with one half, fold into thirds like a business letter; pinch seams together to form ball. Repeat with remaining half. Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly wi plastic wrap, and let rise in fridge til nearly doubled 40-50 min. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 F. 

Bake: Coat two 9" round cake pans w 2 T olive oil each. (I used cake pans with tall sides to have a taller crust)  Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into a 13" circle. Transfer dough to pan by rolling dough loosely around a rolling pin and unrolling into pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and up sides at least an inch. If dough resists stretching, let it rest for 5 min before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough.

For ea pizza, sprinkle 2 c (I used 1 1/2 c each) mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. (If you're using any meat or veggie toppings, add them on top of cheese.) Spread half tomato sauce over  cheese (or toppings) and sprinkle 2 T Parm over sauce. (I omitted) Bake til crust gold br, 20-30 min. Remove 'za from oven and let rest 10 min before slicing and serving.