Jon in Idaho

The 1.5 cups of flour works well for my pan, but it may be a bit short for yours (and I omit the top layer–Giordano’s deep dish is “stuffed”, meaning that there is a thin layer of dough placed over the cheese and toppings, covered by the sauce), so it would probably be best to scale the recipe up to 2 cups flour (multiply the ingredients by a third) and trim off the excess.

I’m assuming that you will use a mixer to mix and knead. I use the bread machine–I proof the yeast, then put all the ingredients in the bread pan, turn it on the dough cycle, let it mix for 1 minute–then remove the pan, let the machine go into the knead cycle–replace the pan while it’s running and let it knead for 2 minutes.

I find that the 8 TBS (.50 cup) water works best for me in the above recipe.

Also, do not cook the sauce prior to baking, if you want to copy Giordano’s recipe.

The amount of oil and kneading time I gave you is for a Giordano’s-style pizza. Uno’s and Malnati’s (same recipe) use, I believe, even more oil (becuse they are much greasier than Giordano’s). To make an authentic Chicago deep dish pizza, you need a lower protein flour ( Uno’s uses cake flour), like all-purpose to achieve the biscuit-like texture. Giordano’s uses 6-in-1 tomatoes and Stella cheese.

Here is a basic recipe (for a 10-inch pan):

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. yeast
6-8 TBS water (depending on the age of the flour, humidity, etc.)
4-4.5 TBS (not tsp.) canola oil Giordano’s use a 95% canola/5% olive oil combination–if you don’t want to use that much oil, you can get away with 3 TBS)
.75 tsp Kosher salt
.75 tsp sugar

Proof the yeast, then add to the dry ingredients. Mix and knead for 2 minutes. Coat the dough ball with oil. Let rise for 4-8 hours.

After the rise, punch down the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then roll it out with a rolling pin and press into a 9.5-10-inch deep dish pan (or you can just press it in with your fingers–Giordano’s uses a sheeter to flatten the dough). Giordano’s also greases their pans with butter.

Layer in the cheese, then toppings, then sauce (sauce recipe follows). Bake on 450 for around 35-40 minutes (depending on your oven–yours may take more or less time).

Sauce recipe:

1 28-oz. can 6-in-1 tomatoes
.50 tsp. Kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
I clove garlic, mashed or minced (optional)
Italian spices to your taste
Pepper
A few dashes of red pepper flakes (Giordano’s sauce has some heat to it)

Enjoy!

Authentic Chicago deep dish depends on a flaky, biscuit-like crust, so you don’t want to use bread flour.

There is not enough oil in Pat’s recipe–the correct ratio is 3 TBS (not tsp) oil: 1 cup flour.

Authentic Chicago deep dish depends on a short knead time after mixing (around 2 minutes)–otherwise the result will be bread.

I’ve made a couple similar dishes using a different pizza recipe. Definitely a nice twist on traditional pizza. This site has some nice toppings (fillings?) to try.