Responding to what amounts to something of popular demand on a [r/food](r/food) post, I’m dropping this pizza recipe.
As background: More than 40yrs ago I worked as a prep cook at Pizzaria Uno, the original on Ohio and Wabash, in Chicago. I escaped with the dough and sauce recipes. The recipe was originally for a much larger bake, but I whittled it down. The build itself is me sort of winging it, but the base tastes are core OG.
Enjoy!!!
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Recipe makes TWO pizzas
CRUST:
12 ounces warm (not hot) water
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 3/4 cups flour
1 2/3 cup cornmeal or corn flour
Pinch of sea salt
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp vegetable/olive oil
Dissolve together warm water, sugar, yeast and a pinch of salt. Let sit for 10-15 minutes or until there is a good amount of foam.
Combine dry ingredients with wet yeast mixture, and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. You may need to add a bit of flour if too wet, or a bit of oil if too dry.
If using a stand mixer, add dry and wet ingredients slowly on low power using dough hook.
Once combined, set speed to medium-low for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
PROOF:
Stretch dough into a ball and put in a lightly oiled bowl (tossing it in oil to make sure' it's fully coated) cover with plastic wrap and proof the dough for 60 minutes at 100(ish) degrees, or until dough is at least 2x starting size.
Grease 2 deep dish pans (glass or cast iron work best) with oil or butter (butter is best - it helps the crust get crunchy).
Stretch and press dough into pans, running it up the sides until it completely covers the interior of the pans as evenly as possible, then cover with plastic wrap and proof for another 20-30 mins
- this gives you time to start the....
SAUCE:
28-ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
1 small/medium white or red onion
Few cloves of garlic - to taste
1/4 tsp of crushed red pepper flake
2 tbsp of oregano
1 tbsp of basil (if fresh, 5-10 leaves)
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp butter
Juice of half of a lemon
Olive oil to coat the pan
Put a 28oz can of whole San Marzano tomatoes into a large bowl and crush by hand until the tomatoes are bite-sized pieces in liquid.
Finely chop the onion and crush/mince a few cloves of garlic.
Into a high walled sauté pan, on medium-high heat, put a few tablespoons of olive oil, add chopped onion and sweat for 2-3 minutes or until translucent around the edges, then add crushed garlic and sauté for an additional minute until fragrant.
Add crushed red pepper flake, oregano, basil (or 1/2 of the leaves of fresh), and tomato paste. Cook together for one minute. This will leave “burned” browning on the pan - don’t sweat it!
Add the crushed tomatoes, along with the butter and lemon juice, stir (to remove that burned gunk). If using fresh basil, add here, chopped.
Mix and simmer for 20-30 minutes over medium-low heat, until the raw tomato flavor has cooked off and the sauce is thick. I suggest covering with a screen. You’ll know it’s thick enough when you drag a spoon through the sauce it remains parted.
Set finished sauce aside, remove the plastic wrap from the proofed pie crusts, and turn your oven to 425 F, allowing the sauce to cool while you begin the....
ASSEMBLY:
Uncooked Italian sausage (Mild is best, spicy can be a bit much, but it isn't wrong...) Thin layer from edge to edge.
OR Pepperoni (or ~ AND Pepperoni, which is my preferred method)
OR Spinach/Red Pepper or other veggies (if using mushrooms, sweat them in a pan first, to help remove moisture)
Deli-style sliced Smoked Provolone cheese - 2x 8oz packages
Deli-style Low-Moisture Mozzarella cheese - 2x 8oz packages
Pre-grated parmesan
Press dough crusts gently up the sides of the pan again, careful not to smash the air out, it should easily hold its shape now.
Lay down a layer of each type of cheese.
On top of the 1st layer of cheese, add toppings (sausage, pepperoni, etc) into an even layer before the 2nd layer of cheese.
You can add a second layer of toppings and a 3rd layer of cheese, if your crust is deep enough. I do.
Place another layer of mixed cheese until it is almost at the top of the crust
Top the cheese with the sauce, all the way to the edges, until the cheese is hidden.
Sprinkle parmesan on the sauce.
BAKE:
Put into 425°F oven for 35 minutes, rotating once during baking, until cooked through.
Run a thin spatula around the outside edge to make sure that there’s no sticking.
Wait at least 5 minutes before removing pie from pan, then cutting and serving pizza - the cheese is like napalm right out of the oven.
Enjoy!