Suzy Neal’s The Real Deal Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Ingredients

Crust

• 4 cups (480g) all-purpose Laura Lynn flour
• 3 tbsp. (35g) yellow cornmeal
• 2 tsp. (14g) table salt
• 1 (1/4 oz.) pack instant yeast
• 2 tbsp. Laura Lynn olive oil
• 4 tbsp. Laura Lynn unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tbsp. Laura Lynn vegetable oil
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp. (255g) lukewarm water

Sauce

• 1 (28 oz.) can San Marzano style whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. Harvest Farms Organic Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp. kosher salt

Filling

• 1 ½ lbs. sliced mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb. bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained
• 1 cup (113g) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions

1. Make the crust by weighing or measuring your flour, then adding all crust ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix to combine, knead on medium-low speed for 6-7 min. to make a smooth dough.
2. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let rise until puffy, and dough passes the ripe test, about one hour. Dough is ripe when a finger poked in the dough leaves an indention instead of springing right back.
3. While the dough is rising, pour the can of tomatoes and their juice into a mixing bowl, then squeeze the tomatoes by hand to break them up a bit. Add to a saucepan with the rest of the sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until reduced into a thick, chunky sauce.
4. Towards the end of the rise time, preheat oven to 425°, then grease the bottoms of two 9-inch diameter, 2-inch deep cake pans with a generous amount of olive oil, and dust with parmesan cheese.
5. When dough is ready, lightly flour countertop, divide dough in two, and place one half back in greased bowl, and cover with towel. Make one pizza at a time by rolling dough into a circle slightly larger than the pan. If the dough springs back, cover with a towel, and let it rest 10 min.
6. Place dough in pan, and stretch to cover the bottom, then gently press up the sides of the pan. Cover the bottom of the crust with sliced mozzarella fanned over the crust, then add sausage, sauce, and top with a handful of Parmesan cheese.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to make the second pizza.
8. Place oven rack in bottom third of oven, and bake pizzas 35-40 min., until top is bubbly, and crust is nicely browned. Place on cooling rack, then carefully but confidently lift the pizza out of the pan. To prevent oozing, let cool about 10 minutes before cutting, or just go for it, knowing this is a knife and fork kind of pizza.