Deep Dish Pizza Project 1

DESCRIPTION

I've been tinkering with this, off and on, FOR YEARS. Trying to recreate a proper Chicago-style "deep dish pizza", in the vein of Pizzeria Uno or Lou Malnati's.

You would think that in the information age, this would be a no-brainer, but I have not been able to properly replicate the crust...

ATTEMPT 1: INGREDIENTS
[CRUST]

1/4 C. corn meal
1/4 C. olive oil
2 3/4 C. bread flour
1 C. warm water
1 packet yeast

[TOPPING]

Mozzarella
Canned crushed tomatoes
Grated hard cheese

DIRECTIONS

The directions are pretty straight-forward. I use a legit cast-iron skillet, for whatever that's worth. Generously grease the pan. Mold in the dough, cheese before tomatoes. Sprinkle top with grated cheese.

425 degrees F. 30-40 mins.

This is the most common crust recipe out there and it produces a pretty good result but it does NOT match up with what I've gotten from restaurants... and I'm convinced that it is the crust recipe... the crust here was a little too dry and brittle...

ATTEMPT 2: INGREDIENTS
[CRUST]

1/4 C. corn meal
1/4 C. olive oil
2 Tbls butter
2 egg yolks
2 Tbls sugar
1 Tsp salt
2 3/4 C. bread flour
1 C. warm water
1 packet yeast

[TOPPING]

Same as above

DIRECTIONS

Same drill in terms of prep and baking. I added egg yolks, butter and sugar to this recipe to make it more tender and savory. Slightly more like a brioche.

The result? I added a bit too much sugar which browned the crust a little much. Yolks produced a denser, richer crust but it still did not generate the rich, buttery crust that it needs to be.

Next time: less sugar, whole eggs.