Confession No. 15 — I’m an aspiring pizza snob, and I have the peel to prove it

Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t lay claim to their family’s version of a certain dish being among the best ever? Better yet, are you guilty of such braggadocio? I am.

If you are Italian, it’s akin to boasting about your grandmother’s Sunday gravy (the Italian tomato-based type). For most Southerners, fried chicken and barbecue are commonly used examples of genetic culinary superbity. I’ve known a few Puerto Ricans who took similar pride in their Mom’s pasteles.

I exhibit the same swagger when it comes to MaMaw’s chicken & dumplings, or my father’s ability to fry the world’s best chicken gizzards, or crank out restaurant-style salsa by the gallon. I’d like to leave a similar legacy, or six, and pizza is one of my attempts.

Pizza in my own oven is nothing new. For several years, I’ve worked to perfect a thin crust version … then the sauce … and an ideal cheese blend. I’ve baked pizza at every temperature between 300 and 550, using a rack, pan and screen before finally settling on a stone. I’ve used half a dozen different varieties of flour, with very little to quite a bit of yeast. I’ve proofed the dough from an hour up to a week. Sauce is another story — and another reason that my efforts are far from equaling those of the local pizza maker’s.

Enter my latest hankering.

If you’ve read my previous rants about pizza, you know I’m not huge on toppings. Yet, for some reason, a few months ago, I became interested in the Chicago version — somewhat thin, crisp tender crust … deep dish … tons of cheese … assembled with the sauce on top.

I’ve experimented with several pies, using all the tools of the pizza trade. As it turns out, though, all I really needed to get my pizza legacy going was a cast iron skillet.

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My Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza Experiments

First things first. Most of us own cake pans that are suitable for baking the real thing. I decided early on that a cast iron skillet would transfer heat much more to my liking — giving me a nicely browned crust on the top and bottom, while not overcooking the fillings and sauce. The only downfall with the cast iron method is something that only Chicago Deep Dish purists would recognize: the outer crust is set at a slight angle.

For all of the pies pictured below, I used a standard (10½ inches by 2 inches tall) seasoned cast iron skillet. I’m in the market for a larger skillet, as one pie leaves my family of five with absolutely no leftovers.

Pie No. 1 — Trying to go the way of the inventors

After much research, I opted for a crust recipe with cornmeal. I also went against my preference and loaded it down with pepperoni, salami and Italian sausage. Even after pre-cooking the meats to render (and drain) fat, you can see that this pie still has enough of the bad stuff to make any cardiologist nervous. Furthermore, it was very salty. The crust? Nothing to write home about.

Pie No. 2 — Going tried and true

For my second attempt, I scrapped the meats and returned to a tried a true New York style crust recipe. (As it turns out, the authentic Chicago style crust does not contain cornmeal, so what the heck.) The crust’s consistency was better than the cornmeal version, but too thick. Also, I drenched it with enough sauce to float a battleship. Easily enough solved on both counts.

Pie No. 3 — Let the improvements begin

Not only did I make the crust thinner with this version, I also opted to ladle sauce here and there — just like the New York pizza makers do it with thin crust versions. It was a nice balance of cheese and sauce. The crust was crispy and tender, and held up nicely to the abundance of filling.

Pie No. 4 — Now that’s a pizza pie!

I made a few refinements with this version, including using fresh basil. Why hadn’t I used it previously, considering I grow the stuff not 20 feet from my kitchen? Oh well. I also sprayed the upper crust with some grapeseed oil to promote better browning. The only other ‘improvement’ happened completely by accident. After loading down the pan with cheese and sauce, I realized there was at least a half inch of head space. So, I added more cheese and a few more ladles of sauce. It turned out nicely.

Chicago Style Deep Dish Pie: My method

Just lots of cheese and sauce. Circa 2013.

Pizza Dough

1½ cups – warm water
2½ teaspoons — sugar
3 teaspoons — salt
2 Tablespoons — Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4½ cups — bread flour
1 teaspoon — active dry yeast

In bowl or measuring cup, mix yeast with water. Let sit for about 10 minutes until yeast blossoms. Add sugar and salt and mix until dissolved. Add oil. Slowly pour wet ingredients into flour and mix with dough hook in mixer for about two minutes. (Or knead for about 10 minutes if mixing by hand.)

Divide dough into three portions (for 10½ inch by 2 inch cast iron skillet). Make dough ball with seams at the bottom. Set formed dough on plate, cover with plastic and allow to rise at 1-2 hours at room temperature. If using the next day, place in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 500F.

Before you begin to shape the dough, spray the cast iron skillet lightly with a high heat oil (grapeseed, canola, avocado) and place in refrigerator. Use fingertips to evenly flatten dough ball. Work from the edges to the center. Or, use a lightly floured rolling pin to stretch to desired shape.

Place shaped dough in cold skillet and work up the sides — almost to the rim of the pan. It might be necessary to place pan with dough in freezer for a few minutes so that the dough doesn’t slide down the pan.

Fill the ‘pie shell’ with your favorite mixture of Italian cheeses. (I prefer three parts shredded mozzarella to about one part each of smoked provolone, Asiago and Romano. Similar blends are sold ready-to-use in most grocery store dairy sections.) Top with your favorite marinara sauce, ‘dotting’ the surface such as you see pictured in pies no. 3 and 4. Sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan atop the pie, then scatter 2-3 torn basil leaves and a teaspoon of dried red pepper flakes. (My first version of this pie included meat, and the results were less than desirable — for me. Using mushrooms, olives, eggplant and other non-fatty fillings would likely yield nice results.)

Place in 500F preheated oven on middle rack, and lower temperature to 450F. Bake for about 15 minutes, when crust is browned and toppings are bubbly. Let sit for 2-3 minutes and remove pie from skillet with a spatula. Yes, it’s that easy!