The Pizza Therapy Forum and Pasta Therapy Forum

[pizza]

Pat asks:
How about a recipe to recreate the pizza at Due's in Chicago? For a Chicago guy the prospect of mastering the New York style crust isn't very exciting. Thanks

My Response:

Hey Pat.

I do not have such a recipe.

I would ask you to look at my friend Peter's book.

It may be able to help. Here is the link:
http://pizzatherapy.com/ameripie.htm
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[dfandreatta]

I have started doing deep dish pizza, and find it difficult to go back to my #1 favorite pizza: on the charcoal grill.

Here is some information:

THE CRUST:
I use a breadmaker on the pizza dough setting. If you don't use a breadmaker, you probably will want to use an electric mixer or food processor with a dough hook.

2 packages dry yeast - that translates roughly to 4-1/2 tsp
2 cups warm water (90-100 degrees F)
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar (I use turbinado)
1 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
1/2 cup cornmeal
5 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water, either in a mixing bowl or in your breadmaker pan. Add the olive oil, cornmeal, 3 cups of the flour, sugar & salt. Beat or process for 10 minutes. If you're using a dough hook, attach that and mix in the rest of the flour, knead for 10 to 15 minutes. If you're using the breadmaker, add the rest of the flour and just let the cycle run out.

Put the dough into a well-oiled bowl and cover. Allow it to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow to rise again. Punch down again.

This is enough dough for one 10" and one 9" deep dish pizzas. I generally do one "white" and one "red" (my recipes for those toppings can be found here on the forum - you can modify the proportions because you need less to top these).

ASSEMBLING THE PIZZA:
I use a 10-inch springform pan, so I want to roll the dough out 4-5 inches larger than the pan so it will come up the sides and over the edge. Lay it in the pan and press it against the sides. Make sure it overlaps the sides of the pan at least an inch or so. Make sure it's nice and form-fitting. A little extra is fine, because you will go around with scissors and trim the extra. You can add that back to the other dough.

LAYER THE INGREDIENTS:
First I put down a layer of mozzarella cheese, that I slice from a block. Then, a layer of fresh spinach; then about 1 pound of cooked Italian sausage.

Note on ingredients:
The fillings are really up to you. Put in some artichoke hearts, or pepperoni, fresh sliced portabellas, or whatever you want. Once you have layered the filling, top it with more mozzarella, then some fresh grated Parmesan.

ADD THE TOP LAYER OF DOUGH:
Roll the other piece of dough to the same thickness and place that over the top. It's going to overlap a bit. Trim again with the scissors. And then go around with your finger tips and roll and press the top dough into the bottom dough. Very simple. Don't worry too much about what it looks like because when it bakes it will look beautiful.

LAYER INGREDIENTS ON TOP:
Poke some holes in the top crust to release the steam. Top with about a cup of pizza sauce - not too much so you don't weigh it down with sauce, just enough to cover it. Put some fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh grated parmesan on top.

BAKE IT!
Bake at 375 degrees F., for 45 minutes. It has to bake for a while so all that dough can cook and won't be soggy. If you notice it getting too brown cover it with foil for the last few minutes.

As soon as you can handle it, remove the springform ring and use a spatula to move the pizza from the bottom, let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

ENJOY!
_________________
"Papa Don"
Apollo Beach, Florida