On Monday, I made what might possibly be the best homemade pizza of my life. And I've baked a whole lot of pizza over the years. And whole lot of types of pizza ... thin crust, thick crust, deep dish, baked in a pan, baked on a stone, sourdough crust, no-knead crust and crust dough that takes a couple of days to prepare. But I think I may have finally found the Holy Grail of pizza (at least to my taste buds) -- the Chicago-Style Pizza from the Jan/Feb '10 issue of Cook's Illustrated.
And what, you ask, makes this pizza so particularly good? Butter. At least, I think it is the butter. (How can it not be the butter?!?) The dough is made with melted butter and then it is spread with more butter after the first rise and folded up like puff pastry dough. All that butter gives the crust a very nice texture -- tender, yet crisp where it should be. And the flavor is spectacular! The recipe also calls for an hour in the refrigerator for the second rise, but I went birding and left it in for 3-1/2 hours, so that might have also added to the taste. (I wonder how good it would be after spending the night in the refrigerator so the little yeasties can work more of their cool-temperature magic?)
As with most Cook's Illustrated recipes, it reads as quite fussy to make, but it actually went together very quickly.
Behold!
I won't do this for everything I make, but since this one was a definite winner, here is the recipe:
Chicago-Style Pizza
Dough:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1-1/4 cups water, hot from the tap
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely minced onion
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
Toppings:
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups) (I was short on mozzarella, so I used 1/3 jack cheese)
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions --
Mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of stand mixer. Add the hot water and melted butter and mix on low speed with a dough hook for 5-6 minutes (or knead by hand for the same amount of time). The dough will be fairly soft. Scrape the dough from the sides to the bottom of the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45-60 minutes.
While the dough rises, heat the 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the onions and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onions are golden brown, ~5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 2-1/2 cups, 25-30 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
After the first rising, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 15"x12" rectangle. Spread the 4 tablespoons of softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2" border along edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With the seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18"x 4" rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half crosswise. Fold each half into thirds, like a business letter, and then pinch the seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the other half. Return the balls to the mixing bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40-50 minutes (or longer!).
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees about an hour before you plan on baking the pizza.
Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer one of the dough balls to a lightly-floured work surface and roll out into a 12" disk, about 1/4" thick. Transfer the dough to one of the prepared pans and press the dough into the corners and 1" up the sides. If the dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5-10 minutes before trying again. Repeat with the remaining ball of dough.
For each pizza, sprinkle one half of the mozzarella evenly over the surface of the dough. Spread one half of the tomato sauce over the cheese and sprinkle half of the Parmesan over the sauce. Bake at 425, in the bottom third of the oven, until the crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
And for your amusement... when you let two balls of dough rise next to each other in the same bowl, you end up with a rather funny-looking outcome:
The end.
And what, you ask, makes this pizza so particularly good? Butter. At least, I think it is the butter. (How can it not be the butter?!?) The dough is made with melted butter and then it is spread with more butter after the first rise and folded up like puff pastry dough. All that butter gives the crust a very nice texture -- tender, yet crisp where it should be. And the flavor is spectacular! The recipe also calls for an hour in the refrigerator for the second rise, but I went birding and left it in for 3-1/2 hours, so that might have also added to the taste. (I wonder how good it would be after spending the night in the refrigerator so the little yeasties can work more of their cool-temperature magic?)
As with most Cook's Illustrated recipes, it reads as quite fussy to make, but it actually went together very quickly.
Behold!
I won't do this for everything I make, but since this one was a definite winner, here is the recipe:
Chicago-Style Pizza
Makes two 9" pies
Dough:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2-1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1-1/4 cups water, hot from the tap
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely minced onion
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
Toppings:
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups) (I was short on mozzarella, so I used 1/3 jack cheese)
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions --
Mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of stand mixer. Add the hot water and melted butter and mix on low speed with a dough hook for 5-6 minutes (or knead by hand for the same amount of time). The dough will be fairly soft. Scrape the dough from the sides to the bottom of the bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45-60 minutes.
While the dough rises, heat the 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the onions and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onions are golden brown, ~5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, increase heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce is reduced to 2-1/2 cups, 25-30 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
After the first rising, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into a 15"x12" rectangle. Spread the 4 tablespoons of softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2" border along edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With the seam side down, flatten the cylinder into an 18"x 4" rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half crosswise. Fold each half into thirds, like a business letter, and then pinch the seams together to form a ball. Repeat with the other half. Return the balls to the mixing bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40-50 minutes (or longer!).
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees about an hour before you plan on baking the pizza.
Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer one of the dough balls to a lightly-floured work surface and roll out into a 12" disk, about 1/4" thick. Transfer the dough to one of the prepared pans and press the dough into the corners and 1" up the sides. If the dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5-10 minutes before trying again. Repeat with the remaining ball of dough.
For each pizza, sprinkle one half of the mozzarella evenly over the surface of the dough. Spread one half of the tomato sauce over the cheese and sprinkle half of the Parmesan over the sauce. Bake at 425, in the bottom third of the oven, until the crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
And for your amusement... when you let two balls of dough rise next to each other in the same bowl, you end up with a rather funny-looking outcome:
The end.
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