I grew up in Chicago, so I consider myself a deep dish pizza expert. And as far as I’m concerned, Chicago deep dish pizza is all about the crust. Giordano’s has a super flaky biscuity crust. Pequod’s has extra-caramelized bits of frico around the edges. And Lou Malnati’s (my favorite!) has a buttery, deeply flavorful cornmeal crust.
Until recently, I was only an expert in eating deep dish pizza, but I tried recreating that iconic Lou Malnati crust, and I finally cracked the code. It took me a long time to get there, but last week I had a major revelation that I probably could’ve gleaned from a cheesy corporate motivational poster: Many paths lead to the same destination.
(Oh! And: adding beer makes most things taste even better.)
How I cracked the code:
What I tried first:
I watched every video of cooks making pizza at Lou’s. I read every interview with their owner. I read every article speculating about how they make their iconic cornmeal crust. Over the years, I tried one or two copy-cat recipes. I tried tinkering with my own recipe, closely following what I had learned. But nothing tasted like the Lou’s I knew.
Then I decided to go a completely different route:
I took everything I knew about the final product, and backwards engineered it, paying less attention to the way it’s supposed to be made.
My ingredients and method weren’t in line with the real deal, but the results were weirdly even more Lou-ish than recipes that stick closely to the original.
So, no—this is not exactly how Lou Malnati’s actually makes their pizza. But here are the main things you can do to end up with a crust (and pizza!) that’s uncannily similar:
How to make very good deep dish pizza:
- Add beer! Lou Malnati’s does not actually add beer to their crust (as far as I can tell). But their crust has always reminded me of beer bread. Adding beer gives it that characteristic flavor that’s simultaneously a little bitter and a little tart (sort of like sourdough bread). Lou Malnati’s achieves that flavor with some combination of good quality yeast and a very long rise time. However, I have not been able to achieve the same results that way. But I have discovered that beer gets you to something very similar!
- Use olive oil. Ok, now this one’s a hot take. The Lou Malnati crust is known as Buttercrust™, so the idea of using something else is a little out there. But I’ve noticed that olive oil dough sometimes tastes even more buttery than dough made with butter, if that makes any sense. So I use a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil in mine.
- Go parmesan crazy! While a Chicago deep dish pizza without a heap of parmesan or romano on top is wonderfully bright red, it’s so much tastier with a generous amount of sharp cheese on top. Lou Malnati’s goes this route, and I do too.
- Bake it on the floor of the oven. Here, I’m following tradition. By cooking it on the floor of the oven, the bottom of the crust will cook up super crisp.
- Use some cornmeal in the dough, but make it a wet dough. Cornmeal does not absorb water as readily as flour, so your raw dough should be a little on the soft side. As it bakes, the cornmeal will absorb some of that liquid and it will firm up without becoming dry. Follow the gram measurements in the following recipe for maximum accuracy and you won’t even have to think about it, but if you’re eyeballing it with volume, keep in mind that it should not be a very firm dough, and that it will firm up as it bakes.
Chicago deep dish pizza with spinach
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 175g beer* (¾ cup, or half a bottle), at room temperature
- 5g instant yeast (1½ teaspoons)
- 5g sugar (1 teaspoon)
- 260g all purpose flour (2 cups)
- 30g polenta or cornmeal (3 tablespoons)
- 25g extra virgin olive oil (2 tablespoons), plus more for greasing the pan
- 5.5g salt (1 teaspoon)
For the pizza:
- 8 oz shredded or sliced mozzarella (225g)
- 8 oz container frozen spinach (225g)
- 3 medium cloves garlic (10g)
- 1 small bunch basil (25g leaves)**
- Salt
- 1 cup tomato sauce (240g)
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan or pecorino (25g)
Instructions
- Make the dough: combine the beer, yeast, sugar, flour, cornmeal, olive oil, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (if using dry active yeast, dissolve it in the beer with the sugar first). Bring together with the dough hook at low speed, then increase speed to medium-high and knead for about 5 minutes.
- Once the dough smooths out, use a rubber spatula to scrape the dough into a greased bowl (it will be pretty sticky), oil your hands, shape it, cover loosely, and set aside for about 3 hours, until doubled in size.
- Prep the toppings while you wait: Wring out the spinach very well and place in a small mixing bowl. Crush the garlic through a press into the bowl. Pick the basil leaves from the stems and add the leaves to the spinach. Season to taste (about ¼ teaspoon). Mix together and set aside.
- Once the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 445°F (230°C).
- Make the pizza: Generously grease a 10 inch (25cm) cast iron skillet*** with more olive oil. Scrape the dough into the skillet and use your oil-coated fingers to work it out into a thin layer. Make sure it goes all the way up the sides of the skillet.
- Fan out the cheese slices or sprinkle the cheese right on top of the dough. Sprinkle the spinach mixture over the cheese. Ladle on the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with the pecorino or parmesan.
- Bake for about 25 minutes on the floor of your oven. The crust should be brown around the edges and golden brown underneath, the cheese should be melted and stringy, and the top should be a little caramelized.
- Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before serving (or it will be completely molten). Slice and serve out of the pan.
Notes
To make the dough overnight, just let it rise at room temperature for 2 hours, and then refrigerate for up to 24 hours. After dough has risen (either at room temperature or in the refrigerator), you can tightly wrap it and freeze it for a few months. Thaw in the refrigerator to use.
* In place of the beer: Measure 10g (2 tsp) apple cider vinegar. Top off with 165g water (to end up with ¾ cup liquid total).
** Can substitute 1 tablespoon (3g) dried basil.
*** If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, use another similar sized ovenproof skillet or pan. Depending on your pan, pizza might get more or less crispy on the bottom, and it might take more or less time to cook.
My husband — a Chicago native of Italian heritage — said this recipe has “the perfect crust.” I thought it was great, too, but I’m not an expert like he is, haha.
Haha amazing!! That makes me so happy! 😀
Greetings from the Pacific NW! It took me years to perfect my Neapolitan pizza in home cooking environment. But I do crave the deep dish pizza occasionally from my years living in the Midwest. Of the few times I made it, the DD pizza was satisfying but not outstanding. I’m glad you cracked the code for this home cook! A few questions here: 1. crust: have you tried sourdough crust? (I’ve been sourdough baking for years before it was a thing 🙂 I wonder if the long, refrigerated fermentation would achieve the depth and complexity of the flavor. 2. cheese: from shredded, part-skim, low-moisture, with additive (to prevent caking) or not, to wholemilk, fresh, there’s a wide variety of mozzarella on the US market (a lot of it is cr*p), can you be more specific on the cheese of choice? Fresh is generally good but it adds moisture. 3. tomato: my default is canned Italian tomatoes (doesn’t have to be Cento, a few non-Cento brands are great). But we are making Chicago pizza here! Should I just go with generic, or say, Muir Glen, etc. and stop being fussy :)?
Thanks for sharing! Always enjoy your recipes, and particularly the cultural components of them, as I’m an immigrant myself from China.
Cheers.
omg Neapolitan pizza at home! You’ve got skills—that is a tall order!
1) I think sourdough crust is a fabulous idea and would work great here. I’ve actually been thinking about borrowing a friend’s starter to try testing a sourdough version of this one! I say definitely go for it!
2) Definitely go with the kind of mozzarella that’s shredded and in a bag, not the fresh kind (as you say, adds too much moisture). Really any kind that you like will work great here. Whole milk is always better flavor-wise, but part skim works here too. Totally up to the chef!
3) Likewise, any canned tomatoes you like will work great, but just make sure you turn them into a tomato sauce by reducing them down with some garlic and aromatics and then mashing or blending them. Store-bought sauce is also 100% fine here (as long as it’s one you enjoy!).
Happy baking, and let me know if you have any other questions!
Very cool! I will whip this one up because I love spinach. I am originally from Illinois, so I know what you mean. I am not a big fan of deep pan pizza, but I am open to trying new recipes especially if you’ve cracked the food code. ha!
Ah spinach pizza is just the absolute best, totally a big fan too! (I mean I guess as you can see haha)
And totally understand—deep dish pizza isn’t necessarily for all palates! If you try this one, I hope you enjoy it!
Perfection!
I am so glad you guys enjoyed it!! 😀