Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza with Sausage & Pepperoni

Deep-dish pizza is layered in reverse order of NY pies. The thick dough is pressed into a pan (or a seasoned cast-iron skillet) followed by the toppings (in this case the pepperoni and sausage), then the chunky tomato sauce.

Course pizza

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword american, cheese, chicago, deep dish, midwest, pizza, sausage

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 40

Servings

Calories 913kcal

Ingredients

For the dough:

2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
3½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the deep dish pizza:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt, as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
¼ pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
¼ pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound deli sliced part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 ounces thinly sliced Pepperoni
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the dough:

Add the yeast to a small bowl then stir in 1½ cup lukewarm (110ºF to 115ºF/ 43ºC - 46ºC) water until the yeast is dissolved. Let sit for 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and vegetable oil then add the water and yeast mixture and turn the mixer on medium speed, until the dough comes together and becomes smooth and elastic, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Place the dough in a bowl lightly oiled with the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until the dough doubles in size, at least 1 hour or refrigerate overnight. When ready to make the pizzas, punch down the dough.

For the deep dish pizza:

Let the dough come to room temperature.
To make the sauce heat a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat through. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds then stir in the tomatoes, basil, oregano and pepper flakes. Cook until sauce becomes slightly dry and chunky, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Heat oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
Rub a 12-inch cake pan (deep dish pan) or cast-iron frying pan with the remaining olive oil then spread out the pizza dough. Use your hands to push the pizza dough in the pan so that the dough reaches about 1½-inches up the side of the pan.
Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat and add the sausage to the pan, using a spatula to break it up into small pieces. Sauté until cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Arrange the slices of mozzarella into the bottom of the crust. Arrange the pepperonis in an even single layer over the cheese. Add sausage on top followed by the tomato sauce.
Bake until crust is golden brown, about an additional 25 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes then top with Parmesan and cut into slices.

Nutrition