email this pageAn American G.I., just back from World War II, and his buddy changed the course of pizza?and Chicago?history. Rick Ricardo, the serviceman, and his friend Ike Sewell decided to go into business together in a downtown city bar on the corner of Ohio and Wabash. "At first, they were going to do Mexican food," says Aaron Spencer, pizza historian at Uno's. "Then, the idea came to them?what about the stuff called pizza that Americans who were stationed in Italy had been served?"
Both Ricardo and Sewell took a liking to that idea?and they took to experimenting, finally coming up with a pizza they made in a frying pan. Since pizza was a new and exotic food to Midwesterners, they had to give it away to bar patrons. Soon, though, a following developed for this gooey, cheesy, deep-dish concoction. Ricardo passed away before acclaim reached Pizzeria Number One, as it was called when it first opened in 1943. Sewell eventually changed the name to Pizzeria Uno, and in 1956, he opened up Pizzeria Due, just kitty corner from Uno's, to relieve the crowds that wound their way around the building.
Eventually, other pizza pioneers spread the deep dish to other corners of the city in the 1960s, and Chicago pizza became a staple.
The key to making deep-dish pizza at home is in the formation of the crust. "It's formed more in the pan, and you have to have a deep dish pan or a baking pan with a high rise to it," says Chris Gatto, vice president of food and beverage at Uno's. "It's more labor intensive than just spinning out a pizza disc and tossing it up in the air."
After the dough reaches the proper temperature of about 80 degrees (any lower and it will tear), you have to put it in an oil-coated pan and work it out to and up the sides of the pan. Despite the deep-dish name, the dough shouldn't be too thick; a thick crust pizza is Sicilian, and it's more of a bread-like pizza. Proper Chicago deep dish actually has a thinner crust. After forming the crust, bake it, without any ingredients, for at least 10 minutes so that the crust sets. Let it cool, pile on the cheese, chunky tomato sauce and toppings, and bake.
Uno's Cheese and Tomato Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients
1 (28-ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes (the chunkier the better)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning or 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped Italian herbs
1 1/2 teaspoons dried onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Pizza:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
16 ounces of pizza dough (at room temperature)
4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided
¾ cup chunky tomato sauce
2 tablespoons freshly grated Romano cheese
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1. To prepare sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Let cool. For the deep-dish recipe, you will have sauce leftover.
2. To prepare pizza, preheat oven to 400F. Pour oil in a 10-inch round, deep-dish pan or springform pan. Place dough in the center of pan and work dough from the center outward, pressing to cover bottom of pan and halfway up sides. Prick with a fork.
3. Bake crust in oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Spread 2 cups cheese on crust, top with 3/4 cup tomato sauce. Sprinkle remaining 2 cups cheese, Romano cheese and oregano on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pizza every 15 minutes. The crust should be golden brown, and the cheese should be bubbling. Remove from oven, cool for 3 minutes. Remove pizza from the pan using a spatula, cut and serve. Serves 6 to 8.
Recipe by Jeanette Hurt, "Relish the American Table," June 11, 2006.
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