Chicago Tavern Style Pizza Recipe
If you are used to deep-dish Chicago pizza, you must try this OG Chicago Tavern-style pizza recipe. It is a thin-crust pizza with a nice pepperoni, veggie topping, and some mozzarella cheese on top, cut into squares. It is perfect to grab it while holding a drink in one hand.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 250 grams All-purpose flour
- 160 grams Lukewarm Water
- 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
Pizza Sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 5-6 Cloves Minced Garlic
- 1 Can San Marzano Tomatoes, crushed and pureed
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Basil , dried or 3-4 leaves of fresh basil
Making Pizza
- 7-8 Slices Pepperoni
- 9-10 Slices Bell peppers
- 9-10 Slices Onion, thickly chopped so it wont burn in the oven when cooked
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- Begin by gathering all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine the all-purpose flour, instant yeast, sugar, and salt, ensuring thorough mixing to incorporate all the dry components evenly.
- Add water to all the dry ingredients and start mixing the dough, perhaps using your hands to knead it until a uniform dough ball forms.
- Introduce some olive oil into the mixture and knead the dough once more in the bowl. Aim for a smooth, cohesive ball of dough, which should only take about a minute or two to achieve.
- Cover the bowl with a clean plate or clean kitchen towel. Let the dough to rise at room temperature for approximately 5-6 hours or until it has doubled.
- Once the dough has sufficiently risen, it's ready for making pizzas.
- Take a small portion of the dough and roll it out until you achieve a circular sheet. Ensure that you roll the dough thinly, or as thinly as possible, since we are aiming for a cracker-like crisp crust. Place this rolled-out dough in the refrigerator for approximately 3-4 hours. This step dehydrates the dough, enhancing its crispiness when cooked.
Pizza Sauce
- Add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil(you can use vegetable oil or any nuetral oil if you do not have olive oil) to a pan over low heat and add minced garlic to the hot oil and sauté for 1-2 minutes, or until the oil gets the garlic fragrance in it.
- Pour the crushed or pureed San Marzano tomatoes( use any good quality canned tomatoes that you like) and stir well to combine with the garlic.
- Add the salt, sugar, and dried oregano to the saucepan, stirring to incorporate the seasonings.
- Let the sauce cook gently on high, stirring occasionally, for about 5-10 minutes or until it thickens to your desired consistency.
- Once the sauce has thickened, turn off the heat. Taste and adjust the salt and sugar quantity as needed.
- Take the pan off heat and let the pizza sauce cool slightly before using it to top your pizza. Add dried basil or fresh basil, mix the sauce and let it rest for the basil flavor to incorporate in the sauce.
Making the Pizza
- Take the rolled-out pizza dough from the refrigerator and ensure it is a little dry on the surface. You can freeze the dough for 1-2 hours, which would also do the trick.
- I first cooked the crust with a little bit of sauce in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200°C. I didn't do this on a pizza stone.
- Now spread some pizza sauce on top of it, and then spread some mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza sauce. Finally, add some toppings of your choice. So I went with some pepperoni, green bell peppers, and Onions.
- Cook this Pizza for another 10-15 minutes at 200°C inside a convection oven. That's it. Your Chicago Tavern style pizza is ready, cut it up in squares and enjoy!
