Chicago deep-dish pizza
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

History

Pizzeria Uno on Ohio Street served the first deep-dish in 1943 under owner Ike Sewell and original cook Rudy Malnati Sr., whose family later launched Lou Malnati's. The pan-baked, cheese-on-the-bottom architecture was a deliberate break from the East Coast slice, designed to function as a meal rather than a snack. By the 1960s a parallel tradition (stuffed pizza, with a second layer of dough above the cheese) appeared at Nancy's and Giordano's. Across the city, tavern-cut thin (square-sliced) has always outsold deep-dish two to one with locals, but deep-dish is what the postcard sells and what the visitor expects.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 250g bread flour
  • 60g fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 180ml warm water
  • 30g unsalted butter, softened
  • 30ml light olive oil
  • 300g low-moisture mozzarella, sliced 5mm thick
  • 300g uncooked Italian fennel sausage
  • 1 x 400g tin whole peeled tomatoes, hand-crushed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Pinch of caster sugar
  • 30g grated Parmesan
  • Olive oil for the pan

Method

  1. Whisk flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add water, butter and oil, mix to a shaggy dough, then knead 5 minutes until smooth. Rest covered 90 minutes at room temperature, until doubled.
  2. Heat the oven to 220C (425F). Oil a 9-inch cake or cast-iron pan generously with olive oil.
  3. Press the dough into the pan and up the sides 4cm. Rest 10 minutes while you prep the toppings.
  4. Lay the mozzarella across the dough in overlapping slices. Crumble the raw sausage on top in walnut-size pieces, covering most of the surface.
  5. Hand-crush the drained tomatoes with the oregano, sugar and a pinch of salt. Spoon the tomato over the sausage. Shower with the Parmesan.
  6. Bake on a low rack for 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is deep gold and the centre bubbles. Rest 10 minutes before slicing into wedges.

Tip from the editors. Drain the tinned tomatoes hard, ten minutes in a sieve, or the pie will be wet at the bottom.

Where to eat chicago deep-dish pizza

Chicago deep-dish pizza in Chicago

Lou Malnati's (Lincoln Park) ★ 4.4

$$ Chicago Deep-dish PizzaLincoln Park

Lou Malnati's in Chicago is the Lincoln Park branch of the deep-dish chain founded 1971 by Lou (Rudy Malnati Sr.'s son), butter-crust pies with The Lou.

OrderThe Lou with sausage, plus a small Malnati Salad first, with sweet vinaigrette.

TipOrder the pizza when you sit; baking takes 45 minutes. Otherwise you wait twice.

Directions Book

Pequod's Pizza ★ 4.5

$$ PizzeriaLincoln Park

Pequod's Pizza in Chicago is the Lincoln Park pan-pizza institution on Clybourn since 1971, the caramelised cheese ring around the crust copied.

OrderMedium pan pizza, sausage and mushroom, with extra cheese around the rim.

TipWalk in at 16:30 to beat the queue; tables fill before the kitchen opens for dinner service.

Directions Book

Pizano's Pizza & Pasta ★ 4.2

$$ PizzeriaThe Loop

Pizano's Pizza & Pasta in Chicago is the family-owned Loop deep-dish room founded in 1991 by Rudy Malnati Jr., son of Pizzeria Uno's original cook Rudy.

OrderThe cheese deep-dish, no toppings, the way Rudy Sr. baked it at Uno.

TipThe Madison location is the original; State Street is the bigger pre-theatre spot.

Directions Book

Pizzeria Uno ★ 4.1

$$ PizzeriaRiver North

Pizzeria Uno in Chicago is the original deep-dish pizza shop, opened by Ike Sewell on Ohio Street in 1943, where the city's pan-baked pizza was invented.

OrderThe Numero Uno, the canonical deep-dish from the original menu.

TipThe pies bake 45 minutes; order on arrival. The nearby Due (Pizzeria Due) is the same kitchen if Uno is full.

Directions Book

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