Pizza crust...

[fishinchicks]

We went to Chicago for Thanksgiving last week, and spent Black Friday downtown. We had lunch at Giordano's pizza. Their crust is different - almost biscuit like. Is anyone familiar with their pizza? I would love to know how to make that crust! The rest of the pizza I think I can replicate.

Any ideas?

[croixflats]

Was this a deep dish? Adding more water to the dough makes it more fluffy and airy, though it makes it harder to work with making it sticky.

If so here is one recipe, takes a while to make but worth it.

* 1 medium baking potato (about 9 ounces), peeled and quartered. Adds more starch that aids in retaining moister with a bit of sweetness added to the dough.

* 1 1/2 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast

* 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

* 1 cup water (warm, 105 to 115 degrees)

* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil , plus more for oiling bowl

* 1 3/4 teaspoons table salt

Instructions

* 1. Bring 1 quart water and potato to boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool until potato can be handled comfortably; press through fine disk on potato ricer or grate through large holes on box grater. Measure 1 1/3 cups lightly packed potato; discard remaining potato.

* 2. Adjust one oven rack to highest position, other rack to lowest position; heat oven to 200 degrees. Once temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat 10 minutes, then turn off heat.

* 3. In bowl of standing mixer or in workbowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, mix or pulse yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, remaining 1/2 cup water, 3 cups flour, salt, and potato. If using mixer, fit with paddle attachment and mix on low speed until dough comes together. Switch to dough hook attachment and increase speed to medium; continue kneading until dough comes together and is slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. If using food processor, process until dough comes together in a ball, about 40 seconds. Dough should be slightly sticky. Transfer dough to lightly oiled medium bowl, turn to coat with oil and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in warm oven until dough is soft and spongy and doubled in size, 30 to 35 minutes.

* 4. Oil bottom of 14-inch deep-dish pizza pan with remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Remove dough from oven; turn onto clean, dry work surface and pat into 12-inch round, (see illustration 1 below). Transfer round to pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest until dough no longer resists shaping, about 10 minutes.

* 5. Line low oven rack with unglazed baking tiles or place pizza stone or rimless cookie sheet on rack (do not use insulated cookie sheet; see note above) and heat oven to 425 degrees. Uncover dough and pull up into edges and up sides of pan to form 1-inch-high lip. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free spot until double in size, about 30 minutes. Uncover dough and [PoorWordUsage] generously with fork. Bake on preheated tiles, stone, or cookie sheet until dry and lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add desired toppings; bake on tiles, stone, or cookie sheet until cheese melts, 10 to 15 minutes. Move pizza to top rack and bake until cheese is spotty golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Let cool 5 minutes, then, holding pizza pan at angle with one hand, use wide spatula to slide pizza from pan to cutting board. Cut into wedges and serve.

[fishinchicks]

Thanks, croixflats. This is what it looks like:

[croixflats]

Pretty much what the crust looks like but I cant pull up the picture. Ever watch America's test kitchen that's where I got the recipe. They may be on the internet and they may have a video on it also.

[delcecchi]

If you don't want to mess with the potato, instant mashed potato flakes work just as well.

[SkunkedAgain]

Giordano's is the must-eat pizza if you're looking for the Chicago style pizza. It's outstanding but I've never been able to get my deep dish crusts to taste that way. Good luck finding the recipe.

[fishinchicks]

I subscribe to America's Test Kitchen online, so I'll check it out.

From what I have read on other sites, the key is to not knead the dough too much. The less you work it, the more biscuit like it is. I'll have to keep searching...and taste testing.

[delcecchi]

I have a few recipes that I saved off a usenet newsgroup. Here they are, but I will add the disclaimer that I have not tried any of these. I have one more which I will post if I can find it.

----------------------------------------------------------

I found these recipes a little while ago. They were originally from the

Chicago Tribune. They're not official Geno's or Giordano's recipes but the

Deep-Dish recipe was great! (I haven't tried the stuffed pizza recipe) I'd

really be interested in getting some other "authentic" Geno' or Giordano's

recipes (mainly to shut up some annoying friends from Chicago who are

always complaining about the pizza around here).

Mark

*******************************************************************************

Chicago-Style

Deep-Dish Pizza

Crust:

1/4 cup shortening

1-1/2 tablespoo sugar

2-1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

3 to 3-1/2 cups flour

Oil

Filling:

1 can (28 ounces) Italian-style tomatoes

2 tablespoons oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon each: fennel seed, salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained

1 pound mild Italian sausage

1 package (10 ounces) mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat 1 cup water, shortening, sugar, and salt until shortening melts;

cool to lukewarm. Soften yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Combine

yeast and shortening mixtures in large bowl. Add cornmeal. Add 2 cups

flour; beat well. Stir in enough additional flour to make a soft

dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board; knead until smooth and

elastic, working in more flour as needed. Brush a round, 12-inch pizza

pan (at least 2 inches deep) with oil. Press dough evenly over bottom

and up sides of pan. Bake at 425 degrees 5 minutes.

Drain tomatoes in colander; chop tomatoes and return to colander; set

aside to drain. In 2 tablespoons oil, saute onion, green pepper,

garlic, and spices until onion and green pepper are tender. Stir in

well-drained tomatoes and mushrooms; cook lightly. Remove from heat.

Remove sausage from casing; crumble into pizza crust (it need not be

cooked beforehand). Arrange mozzarella slices over sausage. Top with

tomato mixture; sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees 45

minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before

serving.

*******************************************************************************

Chicago-Style

Stuffed Pizza

(six servings)

Crust:

1 package active dry yeast

1-1/4 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon melted shortening

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4-1/4 to 4-1/2 cups flour

Oil

Filling:

1-1/2 pounds mild Italian sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (10 ounces) mozzarella cheese,

thinly sliced

1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained

Topping:

1 can (28 ounces) Italian-style tomatoes,

drained, chopped

1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add shortening, sugar, and salt.

Stir in 2 cups flour. Add enough more flour to form a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth and elastic,

working in more flour as needed. Divide dough into thirds. Cover and

set one-third aside. Roll two-thirds of the dough into a 14-inch

circle. Brush a 12-inch pizza pan (at least 2 inches deep) lightly

with oil. Press dough evenly over bottom and up sides of pan. Remove

sausage from casing and crumble into crust (it need not be cooked

before using). Saute onion and green pepper in 1 tablespoon oil until

tender. Stir in salt; sprinkle vegetables over sausage. Top with

mozzarella cheese and mushrooms.

For topping, saute tomatoes and spices 10 minutes, breaking up tomatoes

with a fork. Roll out remaining one-third of dough into a 12-inch

circle. Set over filling in pan. Crimp edges of top and bottom crust

together to seal well. [PoorWordUsage] top crust with fork. Spread tomato sauce

over top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees 45

minutes, or until crust is golden. Let pizza stand 10 minutes before

serving.

-------------------------------------

Well, since there have been so many requests, and I have the cookbook,

I am posting Jeff Smith's deep-dish pizza recipe as my holiday good

deed. Actually, it is yet another thing to do to avoid studying for

my neurobiology final. This recipe is Frugal's self-admitted best

attempt at the pizza UNO recipe, copied directly from "The Frugal

Gourmet Cooks American".

Deep Dish Pizza Crust

---------------------

This is easy, as you do not have to roll it out. You just push it

place in the pan. No kidding! Please note that there is no sugar

or salt in this dough.

2 pkgs. Quick Rise dry yeast

2 cups tepid water (90 degrees)

1/2 cup salad oil

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup cornmeal

5 1/2 C. flour

In the bowl of your electric mixer -- KitchenAid is perfect for this --

dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the oils, cornmeal, and 3 cups

of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes with the mixer. Add the dough hook

and mix in the additional 2 1/2 cups flour. Knead for several minutes

with the machine. It is hard to do this by hand since the dough is

very rich and moist.

Pour out the dough on a plastic countertop and cover with a very large

metal bowl. Allow to rise until double in bulk. Punch down and allow

to rise again. Punch down a second time and you are ready to make

pizza!

Oil round cake pans. Put a bit of dough in each and push it out to the

edges, using your fingers. (I oil mine with olive oil.) Put in

enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan.

Make it about 1/8 inch thick throughout the pan.

Filling for a 9- or 10-inch pan

-------------------------------

1/3 lb. sliced Mozzarella cheese

2 cups canned plum tomatoes, drained and squished

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

salt to taste

3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese for topping

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Place the cheese in tilelike layers on the bottom of the pie. Next

put in the tomatoes and the basil, oregano, garlic, and salt, reserving

the Parmesan cheese for the top. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of

the pie and you are ready to bake.

ADDITIONAL VARIATIONS Before you put on the Parmesan cheese and the

olive oil drizzle you might like to add any or all of the following:

Italian sausage, hot or mild

Yellow onions, peeled and diced

Pepperoni, sliced thin

Mushrooms, sliced

Green sweet bell peppers, cored and sliced thin

Put any or all of these on your pie and then top with the Parmesan and

the olive oil.

Bake the pie in a 475 degree oven until the top is golden and gooey and

the crust a light golden brown. This should take about 35 or 40 minutes.

-----End of Recipe

As I said at top, this recipe is copied verbatim from Jeff Smith's book.

Please!!!! Don't ask me for advice, as sin that it is (especially living

only an hour from Chicago ;-)), I don't like deep-dish pizza, so have

never made this. However, as I was searching for the recipe, my new

husband told me that he really does like deep-dish, so I'm sure I, too,

will soon be trying this. Well, back to the books.

Happy cooking!

--Tanya

Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking

Subject: Re: Pizzaria UNO pizza crust/cheese

This recipe is from "The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook" by Pasquale

Bruno, Jr. (a.k.a. Pat Bruno, Chicago Sun-Times restaurant critic),

Contemporary Books, Inc., Chicago, 1983, ISBN 0-8092-5730-0.

Deep-dish pizza no. 1

DOUGH:

1-1/2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon sugar

3-1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup warm water

TOPPING:

1 28-ounce can 6-1 brand tomatoes or 1 28-ounce can Italian-style plum

tomatoes (see note)

1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt to talte

10 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced thin

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/2 pound Italian sausage, casing removed

Olive oil

DOUGH: Dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the sugar

and stir well. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3-1/2 cups of

flour, salt, and cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add

the yeast mixture, the vegetable oil, and the 1/2 cup of water. Stir and

mix thoroughly until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and a rough

mass is formed.

Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a well-floured work surface. Knead

and pound the dough (dust with flour if the dough sticks to your hands)

for 5-6 minutes until it is smooth and soft. Dust the dough and a large

mixing bowl lightly with flour. Place the dough in the bowl and cover

the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place

until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out of the owl and knead it

for about 2 minutes. Oil the bottom and sides of the pizza pan [14-inch

round pan 2 inches deep]. Spread the dou in the pan with your fingers and

palm. (It will spread more easily if you let it sit in the pan for about

10 minutes.) Work the dough until it covers the bottom of the pan. Pull

the edges of the dough up to form a lip or a prounouced border all around

the pan. [in an earlier chapter, giving pictorial directions, he says to

then cover the pan completely with a towel and let the dough rise in the

pan for 30 minutes in a warm place. These directions are missing here, and

I don't know if they apply, since he does list them explicitly in another

pizza recipe. The pictorial chapter says "This is...the same method used

at Pizzaria Uno and Due in Chicago."] Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

[PoorWordUsage] the dough bottom with a fork at 1/2 inch intervals and parbake

the crust for exactly 4 minutes in the preheated oven. Brush the

crust lightly with olive oil.

TOPPING: In a 2- to 3-quart mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil,

oregano, and salt. Set aside.

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Lay the slices of mozzarella cheese evenly over the

crust (not the border). Spoon the tomatoes over the cheese. Sprinkle the

grated parmesan over the tomatoes. Next add the Italian sausage --

flatten the sausage pieces (about the size of a half-dollar) between your

thumb and forefinger and distribute evenly over the tomatoes. Drizzle

about 1 tablespoon olive oil on the top.

Bake the pizza in a preheated 475 degree F oven on the bottom oven rack

for 5 minutes; move the pizza to an oven rack 2 slots aobe the lower rack

and bake an additional 30 minutes, until crust is lightly brownd and

sausage is cooked through.

NOTES: If using the canned plum tomatoes, drain off all the liquid, put

the tomatoes into a mixing bowl, crush them with your hand, and add the

seasonings.

In pizza restaurants the raw sausage is put on top of the cheese, not the

tomatoes. They can get away with this due to the high heat in their

ovens.

Baking the crust for 4 minutes on the lowest oven rack assures a better

crust bottom. Parbaking the crust is necessary to give the dough its

initial spring; otherwise the weight of the cheese and tomatoes will

compact the dough and cause it to be heavy.

Needless to say, other toppings of your choice -- onions, peppers,

anchovies, mushrooms, and so forth can be added.

[fishinchicks]

Thanks, del! A pizza crust goldmine!