Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza Revisited

Recently I revisited the Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza recipe I've written about before.  This Cook's Illustrated recipe produces the real deal:  deep-dish pizza with a golden-brown, perfect crunchy-chewy crust, authentic enough a representation of the Chicago-style pie to pass muster with even the most avid Windy City pizza fan.  This is still the best deep-dish pizza recipe I've ever found, by a wide margin. 

For those not aware, most of the authentic versions of this Chicago-style delight are not topped by a bunch of cheese. Rather, a layer of mozzarella (and any toppings one might use) are layered directly atop the dough, with a thick sauce layered atop the cheese and toppings. The only cheese on top is a sprinkling of Parmesan (or, better Parmigiano-Reggiano).  That's the way it's done in this recipe as well.

The basic recipe makes two pizzas.  These pizzas have great flavor, such that one really doesn't need to add toppings to the ample layers of cheese and sauce.  The cheese and thick sauce are piled deep enough atop the flavorful, hearty crust that a single slice is quite satisfying.  I have a pretty hearty appetite, especially when it comes to excellent pizza, but I'd have to be pretty close to starving for two pieces to not be too much.   On this occasion, I served up the pizzas with the Sauteed Kale with Garlic Lemon I wrote about in yesterday's blog entry. 

Since this recipe belongs to Cook's Illustrated, and I don't have permission to reprint it here, there are two ways to find it.   The first is to consult the January 2010 issue of Cook's Illustrated, where is was originally published, or the recently-released Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011, which reprints the recipe.  The second option is to check out the Cook's Illustrated website, http://www.cooksillustrated.com/.  In order to access the recipes, you'll have to join the site.   If you aren't sure you'll get enough value out of a full membership, or if you simply want to grab one or two recipes (perhaps this one, and some of the others we've featured here), you can sign up for a free trial membership.  Personally, I think the full membership is a great deal - for an annual fee, one has as-desired access to every recipe published in Cook's Illustrated, up to the current issue, plus all the product and equipment reviews, cooking tips and more.  It's a great value.