STUFFED CRUST
Like anything else, not all Chicago style pizza is made equally and this is one particularly popular variation on the deep dish formula.
We have all heard the expression, "pizza pie" but this is one recipe where the pizza actually lives up to the name. While this shares the thickness and vertical reach of a standard Chicago style deep dish, this also adds a thin layer of crust on the top, making the "toppings" into the "fillings".
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2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
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1 Cup Semolina Flour
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1 1/4 Cup Water
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1 1/2 teaspoon Instant Yeast
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2 Tablespoons Sugar
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1 Teaspoon Salt
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1/4 Cup Corn Oil
1. Mix the dry ingrediemts in a bowl and combine with the oil. Add the water and mix, starting with a spoon and finishing by kneading the dough in the bowl untill your dough is smooth to the touch and you have cleaned the bowl.
2. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Put in the fridge and let it sit until the next day. Remove the dough a few hours before baking to allow the dough to come back down to room temperature.
3. Divide the dough into two portions. Separate roughly one fourth of the dough to be used later for the top of the crust.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
5. Start with the larger portion of dough and roll it out. Use your pan to guide how much you roll it out. You should be able to drape the dough into the pan and have it come up and over the edges, forming the bottom portion of the crust. Make sure you work out any air that might be trapped under the dough and go around, trimming off excess portions of dough. There should be at least an inch of dough hanging around the sides all around.
6. Add your fillings. I generally start with the shredded cheese and then the rest. Go for large cuts of toppings with bold flavors, remember that you will be competeing with a lot of crust. NO SAUCE YET! This will be added at the end.
7. Roll out your remaining portion of dough until it is large enough to drape over the top of your pizza. It will likely be fairly thin but this is all right, you want the top to be thinner than the rest of the crust.
8. Roll the two layers of dough together, pinching tightly to form a seal and crimping it in order to form a crust. With a sharp knife, cut slits in the top of the crust in order to allow steam a way to escape during baking.
9. Bake for ten minutes, rotate the pizza and bake for another ten minutes.
10. Remove the pizza and add your sauce. Bake for another three to five minutes, to allow the sauce to heat up and reduce somewhat.
11. Remove from the oven and allow the pizza to cool as long as you can stand waiting before cutting and enjoying!
