How to Make Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in Two Hours or Less

Carolina Q

GalanteNate_OneEa said:

Ok, forgot to ask a real question, you put the sausage in cooked or raw? You said raw slab but I wanna make sure I don't f this up cause that could be a greasy mess and I'm obviously a pillar of health and diet and I'd hate to ruin my awesome physique... I really just don't wanna ruin my dinner... I'm a fat slob.

Recipe calls for raw sausage. That's what I have used on the pies I have done and it was great. Watched a TV show about one of the Chicago places a long time ago. They put it on raw too.

GalanteNate_OneEa

Awesome, that will be some good flavor, thanks!

Carolina Q

Carolina Q said:

Eggcelsior said:

This isn't bad for a weeknight meal if I can get home early enough. Thanks!

Finally found contact info for the realdeepdish guy so I just sent him a note asking whether or not the dough has to come up to room temp before using. If not, you could make the dough the night before, refrigerate and then make a pizza in little more than the 35-ish minutes it takes to bake it!!!

Assuming he replies, I'll post it here.

___________________

Got a note from Ed at RealDeepDish...

"When I refrigerate my dough, I usually take it out of the fridge and put it on the counter while my oven is preheating (45 minutes to an hour if you're using a stone).  

Your dough can still be a little bit cold, and you will still have good results. 

If your dough is too cold, your crust may end up a little denser than usual. 

I wouldn’t press out your dough until you are ready to bake. 
Shaping your dough in the pan will make your dough expand too much before you bake it. You’ll end up with a moat of bread around the pizza.

If you’re looking for a quicker deep dish meal, I highly recommend LEFTOVERS! 

Bake your deep dish on pizza night, then cut leftover pizza into slices and wrap them in heavy duty aluminum foil, store in your fridge for up to a week. Reheat slices in your toaster oven." 

Looks like It's nearly as quick to start from scratch. You have to wait for the cooker to heat up and for the refrigerated dough to warm. Might as well wait for fresh dough to rise. And as for leftover pizza, I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan.

SGH

@Carolina Q‌
Brother that's a excellent post. Thanks for sharing. As awful as I am at pizza I'm going to try that. Again thanks.

MO_Eggin

Thanks for posting this.  Looks delicious and certainly going to give it a try.

NDG

Nice post - thanks for the bookmark.  Very interesting to read that the sausage goes in raw.  

So has anyone tried this recipe/dough using a cast iron skillet yet?

danv23

Do we want this up high in the dome?  Right now on my XL I've got the plate setter feet up, grid, two bricks (side by side), pizza stone.  And ya, I checked to make sure the lid would close.  Let me know, and thanks!!!

(pics to come)

anzyegg

Great post and idea with metal pan to save money and time. I'll have to try myself at some point. Thanks for the post and Happy 4th!

danv23

I did the Gino's East version (cream of tartar and yellow food coloring).  It was amazing.  Sausage and pepperoni, used Contadina San Marzano style crushed tomatoes, and this was for a 14 inch pie.

Couple of things, after draining the water from the tomatoes there was barely enough to cover.  Next time I will do TWO drained cans crushed tomatoes.  2nd, the top ingredients shrunk into the center, which based on my eye was due to the shrinking tomatoes from the heat.  I think 2 28oz cans (well drained) will fix that.  

Carolina Q

Danv23, that looks awesome!! Glad you enjoyed it!

GlennM

I'm going to make this tonight. I don't have a pan but I do have a 12" lodge frying pan and a 13" paella pan. Which one do you think?

MO_Eggin

I made this on Sunday, changing out the "toppings" for black olives and mushrooms. As promised, start to finish was under 2 hours.  I ended up using a 10" cast iron skillet (couldn't find my deep dish pan), adjusted the dough recipe as instructed for size.  Cook time was just under 30 minutes; egg had been at 500+ for over an hour, adjusted it back to 425-450 when the pizza went on.  Cooked high in the dome (grill dome extender) on top of a baking steel.  Results were very good, but I would increase the amount of salt in the dough, was a bit too bland for my palate; the salt in the toppings suggested in the recipe - sausage / pepperoni - could potentially be the difference.  Sorry, no pics (so I guess it didn't happen?).

Thanks again to @CarolinaQ for posting this recipe.

Eggbertsdad

My buddy just got back from Chicago and his 1st stop when he gets there is ALWAYS to Lou Malnatti's. Well, I told him I was bringing over the grub for the World Cup finals tomorrow.

@Carolina_Q or anyone else that has made this have any extra tips?

@danv23...nice job! I see you almost made a full sausage patty on the top of the cheese.

I went to a restaurant supply store this week and they gave me an old beat up 12 inch, fairly heavy, pan that looks like it was used for deep dish. The wife cleaned it up and it looks brand new.

Also, I made my own Italian sausage for the main event tomorrow. I'll post pics of the cook.

Carolina Q

No extra tips from me. Well, except the one about never trying out a new recipe on others! LOL. Just follow the directions on realdeepdish. Works for me. And yes, I make one huge sausage patty, or smaller sections pieced together. Not sure that part matters much.

Good luck. Enjoy!

Eggbertsdad

Carolina Q said:

No extra tips from me. Well, except the one about never trying out a new recipe on others! LOL. Just follow the directions on realdeepdish. Works for me. And yes, I make one huge sausage patty, or smaller sections pieced together. Not sure that part matters much. Good luck. Enjoy!

Thanks! 

Can't wait considering this is being compared to Lou's! HA!

Lou doesn't bake on a BGE! 

B-)

Carolina Q

Eggbertsdad said:

Carolina Q said:

No extra tips from me. Well, except the one about never trying out a new recipe on others! LOL. Just follow the directions on realdeepdish. Works for me. And yes, I make one huge sausage patty, or smaller sections pieced together. Not sure that part matters much.

Good luck. Enjoy!

Thanks! 

Can't wait considering this is being compared to Lou's! HA!

Lou doesn't bake on a BGE! 

B-)

Neither do I. Well, I have, but I do most pizza in the oven.

jerryb78

I've attempted to clone the Chicago deep dish before with limited success.  I'm absolutely going to try this.

Eggbertsdad

My dough looked good when I pressed it out. I used about 12 oz of sliced mozz, 1/2 lb or so of Italian sausage, and about 14 oz of sauce drizzled on top.

It's been on about 10 minutes and I took a peek to see how it's coming along. I see a ton of liquid on top. Is that normal? Will it evaporate off? 

DMW

Eggbertsdad said:

My dough looked good when I pressed it out. I used about 12 oz of sliced mozz, 1/2 lb or so of Italian sausage, and about 14 oz of sauce drizzled on top.

It's been on about 10 minutes and I took a peek to see how it's coming along. I see a ton of liquid on top. Is that normal? Will it evaporate off? 

I have no idea, not a deep dish expert by any means, but just curious, did you use fresh mozz or dry? High moisture mozz might be the culprit. Again, just guessing here.

Carolina Q

Don't know. Never looked at mine until I thought it was almost done. You didn't say what size pie, but for my 9" pies, 14 oz sauce would be too much I think.

And as DMW said, fresh mozzarella would be too wet. Though its under the sausage so you wouldn't see it until you sliced it.

Hope it was good!

Eggbertsdad

Thanks for the replies. It was a 12" pie. The liquid had to be from the mozz, although I did use low moisture. It did evaporate and the pie was out of this world. This recipe is a winner!

Thanks for the recipe

Desertegghead

Thank you for helping me decide on next Saturday's dinner! can't wait!!

Eggbertsdad

Desertegghead said:

Thank you for helping me decide on next Saturday's dinner! can't wait!!

It was as simple as the OP made it out to be. The dough was easy to make and it worked beautifully. 

Carolina Q

So glad you enjoyed it. I think it is one of the easiest pies to make and unless you are a NY style pizza snob like Jon Stewart, one of the tastiest.

It doesn't fold well though.

matthethamm

Made this tonight.  Success!  Wife enjoyed.  Very easy recipe.  Thanks for the recipe and links!

EDIT.  Trying to upload.  Will when I figure how to get the URL attached here

Carolina Q

Come on guys... PICS or it didn't happen!!

GlennM

I made it. Was easy and turned out great. I used a cast iron pan (lodge 12"). Wife said she liked the traditional pizza better but I thought it was great!

NDG

I made it as well and agree . . . easy & good stuff!

DoofusOfTheDay

Looks awesome, alas though my family will only do thin crust stuff. 

Desertegghead

NDG said:

Nice post - thanks for the bookmark.  Very interesting to read that the sausage goes in raw.  

So has anyone tried this recipe/dough using a cast iron skillet yet?

Ready to go in!