Chicago-Style Deep Dish DIY

Probably the most-often asked for recipe here at Esposito’s is how to make Chicago-style deep dish at home.  There are a lot of recipes for this, but most are very intensive and require a lot of time and love to make right. With Chicago pizza, it’s all about the crust and that crust can take a lot of effort to make.

Unless you know a secret to no-knead techniques.  That secret is, of course, that some of the great artisan breads featured in cooking magazines as “easy DIY with no fuss” can also be used to make awesome pizza crust.  Without kneading, without effort.  You do need to make them in advance, however.  Try the following recipe and keep some frozen for use at all times.

To make this crumbly Chicago-style dough, you’ll need:

• 2-3/4 cups of water (room temp)
• 1 tablespoon of granulated yeast
• 1-1/2 tablespoons of finely-ground salt
• 3 tablespoons of sweetener (white or brown sugar, agave syrup, honey, or even molasses)
• 3/4 cup unseasoned olive oil (cold pressed preferred)
• 6 cups wheat flour (white or wheat)
• 3/4 cup cornmeal

In a container you can cover without sealing, mix the water and olive oil followed by the yeast, salt, and sweetener.  Let stand for about ten minutes while you mix the other ingredients.

In a food processor or using a flour sifter, mix the flour and cornmeal together into a separate bowl.  Then add to the wet ingredients slowly in a stand mixer or while stirring with a spoon.  You may need to use your hands to complete the last of the additions as you mix if you’re mixing by hand.

The dough should be sticky and messy.  Cover without sealing and let sit at room temperature for about two hours or until its risen and fallen.  If using within 24 hours, refrigerate the dough after this rise-fall.  Otherwise it can be put into an airtight bag and frozen.  It will keep for about 3 weeks this way.

To properly cook the crust, it’s recommended that you use a deep dish that is made of iron, such as a Dutch oven.  The dough should be relatively thick when spread and most cooks prefer to spread it by hand rather than with a roller.

It usually cooks in 30 to 45 minutes, depending on toppings.