This Deep-Dish Pizza Has The Craziest Cheese Pull (2024)

What Is Deep-Dish Pizza?

This pizza is all about the deep round crust, at least in my opinion. I wanted it to be super-buttery and flaky because it reminds me of a childhood trip to Pizzeria Uno’s. I know the crust was unlike anything I’ve had. According to some sources like Pequod's Pizza, Pizzeria Uno may have invented the deep-dish pizza in the '40s in Chicago. It’s not your ordinary pizza, and in fact the ingredients are layered opposite from what they'd be for an NY-style pizza. The dough contains lots of fat, contains cornmeal, and is shaped inside a cake pan. The cheese goes on the bottom instead of the top, followed by toppings like meat or vegetables of choosing, then finally the sauce.

How To Make Deep-Dish Pizza

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour: This type of flour is the most accessible and easy to find. I didn’t think bread flour was necessary to use in this recipe. King Arthur, Pillsbury, and Gold Medal have worked fine for me here, just make sure it’s unbleached.
• Cornmeal: While doing research, I thought cornmeal might give this recipe a little textural contrast. Using either a course- or fine-ground cornmeal work fine. The finer will distribute more into the dough.
• Instant Yeast: No need to add an extra activation yeast step. Mix the yeast into the flour mixture thoroughly and make sure your water is at the perfect temperature. It should almost feel like bath water, not too hot but warm.
• Kosher Salt: I call for 1 tablespoon of salt because I want a flavorful dough. Every part of the pizza should be seasoned well, and if you’re a crust person, then you’re going to spend a lot of time picking at the crust here! Salt also aids in elasticity of dough during the proofing process.
• Sugar: This ingredient may seem nominal, but it's very crucial. Sugar feeds yeast, aids in caramelization, and cuts down gluten structure, helping leave a very tender crumb.
• Unsalted Butter: I know this recipe calls for a lot of butter, but I couldn’t help myself. If my memory serves me right, a Chicago-style pizza is buttery and unlike most pizza out there. Butter should be included in the dough and then layered between the dough after its first rise through a process called lamination. This helps form flakey tender layers. The butter should be fairly soft and not quite melted when spreading it onto your stretched out dough. If some of it gets push out when folding, add it back in.
• Olive Oil: Make sure to use extra-virgin olive oil only and coat the bottom and sides of pan generously. You want the dough to soak up the oil and sort of fry in the oven.
• Sweet Italian Sausage: This recipe calls for searing the sausage, then leaving the fat behind for the sauce. There is no need to waste good pork fat. Use it to cook the onion and garlic.
• Dried Basil & Oregano: It only felt right to add some dried herbs in this recipe. I always fry my dried herbs to wake them up. I believe it makes a difference when they're a little fried versus being added straight into sauce, but this is totally optional.
• Crushed Tomatoes: This pizza didn’t feel right without a crushed tomato component. Make sure to use a finely crushed tomato. Some come chunkier than you’d expect, like Rienzi crushed tomato.
• Mozzarella: A must for deep-dish pizza. I like using Galbani and Polly-O. Part-skim or whole-milk are fine. Always buy the block and shred yourself. The pre-shredded cheese has anti-caking agents that are completely unnecessary.
• Parmesan: Finish the pizza with a hefty sprinkle of cheese. Always look for the real Parmigiano Reggiano with the engraved markings and DOP label.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a mixer, knead a dough consisting of flour, cornmeal, yeast, salt, sugar, and butter. Make sure the butter is soft. As the mixer is running, slowly pour in lukewarm water until a soft tacky dough forms. This may take upwards of 5 minutes. We can increase the mixer to medium speed. Don't be afraid if the dough looks wet or sticky, this is the consistency we want. There's no need to transfer the dough or oil the bowl. Once the dough has finished kneading, throw a towel or piece of plastic wrap over the top. Store in a warm spot in the kitchen until it doubles.

Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and stretch or roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Make sure to soften the rest of your butter if it's not already and use an offset spatula to spread it onto the dough. You can leave some of the edges un-buttered so it's not super messy when you fold.

At this point, fold the dough onto itself like you're folding a letter. One side should overlap the next from top to bottom and side to side. You should be able to repeat this 2 times. This lamination process is very important and similar to making croissants if you’ve ever made or read about their production process. Flaky layers come from layering fat between dough. Place in a bowl, cover, and let rise again until doubled in size. If you're watching along with our step-by-step video above, you may notice that we make a double batch of dough and save one for later. This is a great way to cut down on the prep time for the next time you want to make deep-dish, but feel free to just make a single batch if you aren't sure you'll make a second pie anytime soon!

In order to make the sauce, cook some sausage, then leave behind the rendered fat. The additional fat will be used to cook the onions and garlic.

The onion and garlic should cook low and slow for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. I like adding the dried garlic and herbs at this step because the hot fat helps wake up their aromas.

Next, thicken up the sauce with some tomatoes; it shouldn't be too loose. Tomato sauce also tends to splatter as it’s cooking, so use a grease screen to avoid a big mess or potential burns from splattering. Stir the sauce occasionally so it doesn’t stick and burn to the pan.

Make sure our oven rack is in the center of the oven before turning it on. I recommend using a springform pan over a standard 9" cake pan so we can easily remove the pizza later on. Stretch the dough just enough to fit the pan. The dough may slip down the sides as we're forming it to the pan. Give it a few seconds to rest if this happens and try again. Unlike traditional pizza, we want to layer the pizza with mozzarella, sausage, and then top with sauce.

Bake pizza until golden brown around the edges and sauce is bubbling. Feel free to serve this with parmesan cheese or any of your favorite pizza toppings.

Variations

• : Make a batch of sausage and peppers and add this layer to the bottom of the pizza crust.
• Air Fryer Eggplant: Fried eggplant is an excellent addition to pizza. Fry up some eggplant and place pieces of it at the bottom of the pizza.
• Parmesan Chicken Cutlet: Add some pieces of leftover chicken cutlets to your pizza.
• Giardiniera: If you want something crunchy, fresh, and acidic, you can eat this on the side with your pizza.

Recipe Tips

• Store the extra pizza dough in the freezer for another day. Wrap in plastic and place in an airtight ziplock bag. Bring to room temperature before using.
• Make the sauce and dough up to a day in advance so all you have to do is assemble the pizza.
• Oiling the pan is important for extra-crispy deliciousness.

Storage

You can easily double the dough and store one batch in the freezer for up to 1 month. Let it come to room temperature before stretching. Once the pizza is made, you can wrap in foil and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

What Serve With Deep-Dish Pizza

Made This?

Let me know how it went in the comments below!