Chicago style pizza
The post contains product placement – pans by WOOL Cookware.
Deep dish pizza, also known as Chicago-style pizza, is a type of pizza originating and popular as the name suggests in Chicago. The pizza looks more like a cake than a traditional Italian pizza. It is characterized by a thick dough and the ingredients are arranged in reverse order. First, cheese is put on the dough so that the dough does not get wet, then, for example: meat, mushrooms, vegetables, and at the very end a thick layer of tomato sauce is put and baked in the oven. Today I present to you my version of this American culinary icon. You will find several layers of mozzarella, minced pork with lots of spices, pepperoni and homemade tomato sauce. When we ate it, a combination of pizza and lasagna came to mind!
There are almost 10 different spices in the recipe, but don’t worry, you can replace them with pizza spice if you want. From the given proportions, I got a pizza with a diameter of 28 cm and a height of approx. 5 cm. In the recipe I wrote that it is enough for 8 portions like a traditional pizza, but I think that 10 or 12 people would easily eat it.
To prepare the pizza, I used a total of two pans, one to fry the meat and sauce and the other to bake the pizza. I received both of these pans in exchange for my honest opinion about them, which I want to share with you. Below the recipe you can find my opinion 🙂
Chicago style deep dish pizza
Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp dry yeast (or 8 g fresh ones)
- 3 cup flour type 00 (pizza flour)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Meat
- 400 g ground meat (I used pork)
- 2 tbsp oregano
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- ½ tbsp savory
- ½ tbsp tarragon
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 1 tbsp marjoram
- pepper
- salt
Tomato sauce
- 700 g tomato passata
- 1 tsp sugar (depending on how sour the passata is)
- salt
- pepper
- 1 tbsp oregano
- ½ tbsp basil
- ½ tbsp granulated garlic (or 2 cloves of fresh garlic)
- ½ tbsp dried onion (or 1 finely chopped onion)
Other
- 300 g cheese (e.g. mozzarella)
- 100 g salami (e.g. pepperoni)
Instructions
Dough
- Prepare the pizza dough. In a bowl, mix the water, flour, yeast and salt (if using fresh yeast, prepare the leaven first). Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes (I knead for about 15 minutes with a mixer). At the end of kneading, add olive oil. When the dough is elastic, form a ball out of it, grease the surface of the dough and the bowl with olive oil, so that the dough does not stick to the bowl. Leave the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth and let it rise for at least 1 hour.1 cup warm water, 1 tsp dry yeast, 3 cup flour type 00, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil
Meat
- While the dough rises, prepare the filling. Toast all the spices slightly in a pan to release their aroma. Add minced meat and chopped garlic. You can add a little oil for frying. Fry the meat for a few minutes. Put the friedmeat to a bowl and set aside to cool.400 g ground meat, 2 tbsp oregano, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, ½ tbsp savory, ½ tbsp tarragon, 1 tbsp rosemary, 1 tbsp marjoram, pepper, salt
Tomato sauce
- In the same pan where you fried the meat, prepare the sauce (this will make it tastier and you will have less dishes to wash 😉 ). Pour the passata and all the spices into the pan (instead of the passata, you can use puree, juice or tomato paste with water). Cook the sauce for about 20 minutes, covered (so that the sauce does not splash all over the kitchen). Remember to taste the sauce while cooking to season it properly (e.g. by adding more sugar or salt). Set the cooked sauce aside to cool.700 g tomato passata, 1 tsp sugar, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp oregano, ½ tbsp basil, ½ tbsp granulated garlic, ½ tbsp dried onion
Pizza
- Put the risen pizza dough to the form (you can use a mold or pan that is suitable for baking in the oven). Check out how to do it in the video below! Put a layer of cheese on the dough, then a layer of meat (½ of the prepared meat). Sprinkle with cheese again and top with the rest of the meat. Then cheese, pepperoni layer, cheese and tomato sauce. Fold the edges of the dough inwards and place in a preheated oven at
250 °C (482 °F) and bake for about 30 minutes until the edges of the dough are browned and start to pull away from the mold. After 30 minutes, remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle with a thin layer of cheese and put back in the oven for another 5 minutes. That's it! (Wait until the pizza cools down a bit so it will be easier to cut). Enjoy your meal!300 g cheese, 100 g salami
Video
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
About WOOL Cookware pans
I chose two deep pans with detachable handles that can be used on an induction cooker (most if not all WOLL Cookware can be used on all types of cookers). The first pan with a diameter of 24 cm from the ECO LITE series and the second with a diameter of 28 cm from the WOLL DIAMOND series. Each pan also comes with a lid that is heat resistant from 200-250°C depending on the series.
The producer declares:
- 25-year warranty on the bottom of the pan,
- preparation of meals with minimal or no fat,
- energy saving for cooking by up to 60% thanks to unprecedented conductivity and heat accumulation,
- quick and easy cleaning even without detergents,
- possibility to use metal accessories. Minor scratches that may appear after some time will not affect our health, unlike scratched Teflon pans.
The pan from the ECO LITE series is much lighter. Has less protective coatings (4 instead of 5) heat resistant up to 200°C instead of 250°C. It’s also 25% cheaper.
The DIAMOND series pan looks more premium in my opinion (but if both were gray in color, were the same size and lay next to each other, I probably wouldn’t notice the difference).
I chose pans with detachable handles because I’ve never had them and I thought I’d check if it’s actually practical or just a marketing ploy. I have to admit that the detachable handle is a game changer for me. I can easily put the pan in the dishwasher (it’s also easy to wash by hand, dirt doesn’t stick, but I’m lazy and I don’t like washing dishes :p) All my pans are on the shelf under the island and often their handles stick out, which is not aesthetically pleasing and it’ hard not to stumble, no such problem here. If I hid them in the cabinet, I would also save a lot of space, the same in the fridge or oven. The only flaw that PaweÅ‚ noticed was that one handle does not fit both pans. I don’t know if it’s a matter of size or series, but having several pans and storing them without handles, you could get confused which handle goes with which pan.
I tested the pans for 3 weeks, before the first use I washed them with dishwashing soap and greased them with oil as recommended by the producer. I fried tortillas, chicken, dumplings with meat, vegetables, sauces and what I can say is that you can actually fry on them without a gram of fat, nothing sticks, the pans really keep the heat for a long time, they heat up evenly, not only in the middle, pizza I cut it with a very sharp knife and there is no scratch on it. I think it’s a great product!
If it is important to you whether the product is ecological, you do not want a heavy pan and you do not care about baking at a temperature above 200 ° C, opt for the cheaper version – ECO LITE. However, if you want to bake pizza in it (because let’s agree, what else requires such a high temperature?) Then look for a product from a different series.
We’ll see if WOLL Cookware pans are worth the price or if it’s just a matter of novelty and who knows maybe in six months I’ll go back to my old pans. For now, the old ones will end up in the cupboard if there is room for them.
If you are looking for decent dishes and you have no financial constraints, I think it is worth investing in one or two pans. I am happy with the choice of deep pans. I can easily mix, for example, pasta with sauce in them and I no longer prepare most dishes in a wok.
This post was created as part of an advertising partnership with the Polish distributor of WOOL Cookware pans.
