What makes the Chicago’s Deep Dish Pizza so unique?

Visiting Chicago and not tasting it’s traditional Deep Dish Pizza!? No, no…not fair – you’re not doing justice to your Chicago trip! Make sure, you add it to your top-things-to-do list on your visit to Chicago. Do pay a visit to any Chicago’s authentic pizza restaurants such as Pequod’s Pizza or Pizzeria Due to add some classic memories to your travels.

Deep Dish Pizza, the most famous Chicago-style pizza – A high edge, deep surfaced pizza that holds a large amount of cheese, stuffing and a specially made chunky tomato sauce. As the name suggests, the crust is very deep and thick, looking exactly like a pie. Though there is no enough documentation about who invented the pizza, it is often said that, it was originated at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago, in 1943, by the Uno’s founder, Ike Sewell.

So, what makes this style of Chicago Pizza so unique and special? Let’s take a look,

The Baking Style

Unlike the other pizzas, the deep dish pizza is baked in a deep pan, which gives it’s deep and thick structure. The deep dish pizza baking pan is a round, steel pan, quite similar to a cake or pie pan. In addition to wheat flour, the pizza dough also contains corn flour or food coloring, to give the pizza it’s yellowish tone. The buttery rich dough is placed on the deep pan first and then pressed up onto the sides of the pan, forming a bowl for large amount of toppings. The baking time of the of the deep dish pizza is usually more because of it’s thickness and the layers of toppings inside it.

The Unique Setup of Toppings

In deep dish pizza, the toppings are assembled upside down from their usual order on a pizza. A required amount of cheese is first spread over the dough in the pan, followed by loads of your favorite toppings and then at the end the uncooked chunky tomato sauce. Sometimes, they sprinkle some more cheese on the top. Interesting, isn’t it?

And, finally, The Eating Style

As the locals suggest, deep dish pizza is meant to be eaten with fork and knife, so that each deep dish slice can be compiled nicely with the delicious multilayered toppings.

Have you tried making this delicious Chicago-style pizza at home? I asked them the recipe and they explained me well too, but I couldn’t grasp it well – it’s a big and tough recipe, I must agree! If you know an easier version, please share the link through the comment section below.

photo credit: Giordano’s via photopin (license)