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You can now make Chicago deep dish pizza at home! Find out all the details  about how to make this windy city classic!


Chicago Deep Dish Pizza hot out of the oven

Today I am really excited because I have a guest post from my most favoritest person in the whole world: my husband, aka Mr. Baker Bettie. I have hinted around for ages at him doing a guest post. He always says he can’t cook, but that is a lie. He doesn’t cook often, but everything he has cooked for me has been delicious.

He decided last weekend that we needed to make a deep dish pizza and I told him that would it be perfect for a guest post. He immediately agreed, which was a bit shocking. He also insisted that if he was going to do a guest post he had to cook everything completely on his own and I couldn’t help him. So I stepped back and let him cook away.

My husband is too humble to agree with this, but he is absolutely hilarious. I was cracking up listening to him in the kitchen. Here are a few of my favorite quotes that came out of the kitchen that day:

“F***! I already made a rookie mistake. I need to be using a sauté pan not a sauce pan!”

“We don’t have any fennel or red pepper flakes?! Oh god, I’m going to have to improvise.”

“I’m trying to do it the professional chef way. You know? You just shake the pan back and forth.”

Talking to the sauce: “Don’t do that! Don’t do that!”

“Boom. I just made a pizza sauce from scratch… basically.”

And now, without further ado, Mr. Baker Bettie’s guest post…

Raw crust in deep dish pan topped with browned sausage and onions

Hi.  I am Mr. Baker Bettie.  I am Baker Bettie’s first husband.  Hopefully she will be happy with me for at least a few more weeks until her second husband comes in the mail.  My wife runs this blog, and I think it’s pretty cool.

It’s like a second relationship for her, this whole blog thing, so it gives me time to do my own thing, which is cool.  She does pretty good with this blog, and cooks food, which is totally boss.  Be nice to her, because she is a good person!

I made a deep dish pizza.  Deep dish pizza is probably one of my most favorite things in the world to eat.  It is a native dish of my most favorite place in the world, Chicago!

There are a handful of great places where you can get a deep dish in Chicago, and they are all good.  It makes it tough for me though, because I love it so much compared to your typical hand tossed or pan pizza and there isn’t anywhere in Kansas to get a deep dish.

One year, we ordered one from Chicago and had it shipped to us, but that was far too expensive to make a habit of it.  So this is as close as I can get to have the same thing at home.

Raw pizza crust in deep dish pan with marinara sauce being poured on

Let me tell you, this pizza was decent.  I mean, like probably better then a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  So if you are hungry, and you like things like pizza, this may be a good thing to make.

It was actually pretty easy.  I don’t really know anything about cooking.  But I watched a video online about making a deep dish, and decided I could do that.  Who knew that cooking was so easy?  All you have to do to make this pizza is make some dough, which the KitchenAid just does for you, make some sauce, and add your toppings.

Most of the toppings come in a bag or box, and require little to no cooking.  I would say that the most secret and greatest of all toppings/ingredients for pizza is CREAM CHEESE.

This is the most amazing ingredient in anything in the world, and just makes the whole everything of your existence better.  So, if you are cooking, just add cream cheese, and you should be good.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza after being baked

Throw all that stuff together, with the cheese on the bottom of course, because that’s what Chicago is all about, and then toss that thing in the oven.  Just look at it for a while, until it looks pretty, and then eat it!

You may also choose to consume some sort of beverage with this pizza.  I would recommend a nicely chilled Cherry Dr. Pepper.  It pairs wonderfully with this artisan creation.

ENJOY!

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza hot out of the oven
Yield: 4 Servings

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup luke warm water
  • 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • olive oil
  • 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 4 oz cream cheese (optional)
  • 1/2 small white or yellow onion
  • 1 lb spicy italian sausage

Instructions

For the Dough
    1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, stir together the water, yeast and sugar and let sit for about 5 minutes until frothy.
    2. With the mixer on low speed add 11/2 cups flour and mix until incorporated.
    3. Start adding the rest of the flour a little at a time until the dough starts to come together and pull away from the sides of the bowl. You may not need all of the flour, but you will need most of it.
    4. Let the dough mix with the dough hook until it becomes smooth and has pulled away from the bowl.
    5. Lightly oil a bowl with olive oil and turn the dough into the bowl, coating with the oil.
    6. Let rest, loosely covered, for about 1 hour to rise.
For the Sauce
    1. Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat.
    2. Combine all ingredients in the sauce pan and cook, stirring frequently until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly (about 10 minutes).
    3. Store in the refrigerator to cool until ready to assemble the pizza.
Prepare the Pizza
  1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
  2. Brown the sausage, slice the onion, and cut the cream cheese into small chunks.
  3. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick.
  4. Lightly oil a deep 8 inch cake pan or a spring form pan.
  5. Lay the dough in the pan and trim away any excess from around the sides.
  6. Sprinkle about 12 oz of the cheese in the bottom of the pan.
  7. Top the cheese with cream cheese, onions, then sausage.
  8. Pour the sauce over top of the ingredients and spread evenly.
  9. Top the sauce with the remaining 4 oz of cheese.
  10. Bake at 425ºF for 30-45 minutes, until cooked through. (if the crust is browning too quickly, wrap foil around the pan covering the crust and continue to bake.)

Nutrition Information:


Amount Per Serving: Calories: 791
© Bettie
Category: All Recipes