Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

8 Servings

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Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Ingredients

CRUST	2 c Canned Plum tomatoes;
2 pk Quick-rise dry yeast	1 ts Basil
2 c Warm water (90 degrees)	1 ts Oregano
1/2 c Salad oil	2 Cloves garlic; crushed
4 tb Olive oil	Salt to taste
1/2 c Cornmeal	3 tb Grated Parmesan cheese for
5 1/2 c Flour	3 tb Olive oil
FILLING FOR 9 OR 10INCH PAN	Additional toppings as
1/3 lb Mozzarella cheese; sliced

Instructions for Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Chicago has more pizza joints per capita that any other city in the world. There are two thousand pizza parlors within the city limits of Chicago alone, and who knows how many lurk in the land beyond OHare. This wonderful craze goes back many years, too. Following World War II a local Chicago soldier returned to his city and to a job in a popular bar. The owner wanted something new. "We have to feed these people to keep them coming in!" The soldier, who had just returned from time in Italy, suggested pizza. "Its bread with tomato on it and they give it away in Italy." He began to experiment, and Chicago deep-dish pizza was born. Dont be confused by the fact that you cant buy this in Italy. You never could. This is a Chicago invention, and the bar where it was invented is called Pizzeria Uno. I have eaten at Pizzeria Uno many times. Nobody in town can quite beat that basic recipe, though many other companies now employ some brilliant cooks who come up with wonderful combinations. Edwardos serves a "stuffed spinach pizza." I have tried to figure out how it is done at Pizzeria Uno and I think I am very close. I ran the recipe by Mama, a gorgeous black woman who has been cooking the pizza there for thirty years, and she smiled and nodded. I think it was a yes. In any case this is great stuff and I suggest you get started as soon as possible. If you are in bed and reading this book as you sip a glass of dry sherry, I shall let you wait until morning. DEEP-DISH-PIZZA CRUST This is easy, as you do not have to roll it out. You just push it into place in the pan. No kidding! Please note that there is no sugar or salt in this dough. In the bowl of your electric mixer--KitchenAid is perfect for this--dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the oils, cornmeal, and 3 cups of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes with the mixer. Add the dough hook and mix in the additional 2-1/2 cups flour. Knead for several minutes with the machine. It is hard to do this by hand since the dough is very rich and moist. Pour out the dough on a plastic countertop and cover with a very large metal bowl. Allow to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow to rise again. Punch down a second time and you are ready to make pizza! Oil round cake pans. Put a bit of dough in each and push it out to the edges, using your fingers. (I oil mine with olive oil.) Put in enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan. Make it about 1/8 inch thick throughout the pan. THE FILLING FOR A 9- OR 10-INCH PAN Place the cheese in tilelike layers on the bottom of the pie. Next put in the tomatoes and the basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, reserving the Parmesan cheese for the top. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the pie and you are ready to bake. ADDITIONAL VARIATIONS: Before you put on the Parmesan cheese and olive oil drizzle you might like to add any or all of the following: Italian sausage, hot or mild Yellow onions, peeled and diced Pepperoni, sliced thin Mushrooms, sliced Green sweet bell peppers, cored and sliced thin Put any or all of these on your pie and then top with the Parmesan and the olive oil. BAKING THE PIE Bake the pie in a 475? oven until the top is golden and gooey and the crust a light golden brown. This should take about 35 or 40 minutes. From . Downloaded from Glens MM Recipe Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

Main Ingredient: Cuisine: Uncategorized