Auntie Annes Deep Dish Pizza Crust Recipes

DEEP DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• The night before you'd like to serve pizza (or the morning before), mix up the pizza dough. Stir together the flour, yeast, water, and salt in a medium bowl. Mixture will look shaggy and a little dry. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave dough out on counter to rise for 8-24 hours.
• About an hour before you'd like to serve the pizza, move an oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Optional: for a crunchy crust, place 2 tbsp oil in the bottom of a 9x13 pan (glass works best). When the oven is almost at 400, place the baking dish in the oven for 5 minutes to heat.
• Remove 9x13 pan from oven. (OR, if skipping the step to make crust crunchy, lightly grease a 9x13 pan.) Using a spatula or scraper, pour the pizza dough into the 9x13 pan. Lightly grease your hands and use your fingers to stretch the dough out until it mostly covers the bottom of the pan. If the pan has been in the oven, be careful not to touch it as it will be hot.
• Spread pizza sauce on top of the dough, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle cheese on top of the sauce, all the way to the edges. Top with pepperoni and a little more cheese if desired.
• Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and use it to cover the baking dish. Place dish in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes, until bottom crust of pizza and cheese is lightly browned.
• Remove from oven and allow pizza to rest about 10 minutes before removing from pan and slicing into squares.

THE REAL CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA DOUGH

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a bowl. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Combine yeast mixture, flour, corn oil, and kosher salt in a large stand mixer with a hook attachment; knead until dough holds together but is still slightly sticky, about 2 minutes.
• Form dough into a ball and transfer to a buttered bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with a towel and allow dough to rise at room temperature until double in size, 6 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Press dough into a 10-inch deep dish pizza pan.

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sprinkle in yeast and let dissolve, about 10 minutes. Add olive oil, melted butter, sugar, salt, cornmeal, and most of the flour. Knead, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally and adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead in extra flour if needed. Roll into a ball and place in a bowl greased with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Cover with a plate and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, let pizza sauce simmer in a pot over low heat until very thick, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Poke dough to deflate and turn out onto your work surface. Press and stretch out dough into a round shape 3 to 4 inches larger than a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Brush skillet with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place dough in the skillet; stretch and pull to evenly distribute it over the bottom and sides.
• Lay provolone cheese over the bottom of the crust. Scatter fresh mozzarella on top. Add Italian sausage and firm mozzarella. Ladle pizza sauce generously on top. Grate Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the edges of the crust in towards the center to seal in the sides. Drizzle crust and center with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until crust sounds hollow and pizza is beautifully browned, about 35 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.