AROUND THE KITCHEN: CHICAGO STYLE PIZZA AT HOME

As many of you know, I have lived in Florida for 30 years. I moved to Central Florida to build a radio station, and never left.

There are a few things I miss about Indiana.

High School basketball

The Indy 500

AND PIZZA

Growing up in Indiana, we had a great local Pizza place. Pizza King got it's start in 1958 in Muncie Indiana and now has 45 restaurants all over Indiana.

https://www.pizzaking.com/

We spent a lot of our time hanging out at Pizza King and those of us who left Indiana have never forgotten that great Pizza.

Some of their fans are so loyal, they have Pizza King ship their favorites to them. I have one friend who spent $150.00 to have a couple of their “Royal Feasts” shipped to HAWAII.

Since I don't have more money than brains, I have been on a quest to duplicate that special crust and special flavor that I grew up with.

But if you like, you can order them on line and have them shipped.

For me, I enjoy the challenge of trying to come up with something we can make here in Florida without the added expense of shipping.

We have made many home made pizzas, and they were all good, We have done them on my Gas Grill and on Penny's Big Green Egg.

The one on the Big Green Egg was the best PIZZA I ever had.

http://killitcutitupandcookit.blogspot.com/2019/09/game-day-pizza-on-grill.html

We even tried LOW CARB Pizza Dough

AND FRENCH BREAD PIZZA

https://leescookingpage.blogspot.com/2020/06/french-bread-pizza.html

We even did a few 'store bought' pizzas from SAM's in the regular oven.

http://killitcutitupandcookit.blogspot.com/2019/07/fixing-store-bought-pizza.html

They all have their place. But Pizza King....... they were special.

That being said, I recently saw a recipe for Chicago Style Pizza in my Cook's Country magazine. I think I can adapt it to my use.

If you haven't already, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to Cook Country !!!! It is my favorite cooking resource.

https://www.cookscountry.com/magazines

Let's get to it !!!!

CHICAGO STYLE OVEN PIZZA

PIZZA

2 ½ Cups (12 ½ OZ) All Purpose Flour

2 tsp Sugar

1 ½ tsp Instant or Rapid rise Yeast

1 tsp Salt

2 TBL EVOO

¾ plus 2 TBL COLD Water

12 OZ Sweet Italian Sausage

12 OZ Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese (shredded) 3 CUPS

½ tsp Dried Oregano

SAUCE

1 (8 OZ) Can Tomato Sauce

1 TBL Tomato Paste

2 tsp Sugar

½ tsp Italian Seasoning

½ tsp Fennel Seeds

MAKE THE DOUGH

Process flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in food processor until combined (about 3 seconds)

With processor running slowly add Cold Water and oil. Process until dough forms sticky ball that clears sides of bowl. (30-60 seconds)

Transfer dough to lightly oiled counter and knead until smooth. (about 1 minute) Shape dough into a tight ball and place in a greased bowl

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp. until almost doubled in size. (2 – 2 ½ hours)

Now you can check in with the President and have an adult beverage.

He needs more toys

And I need an adult beverage

Set your Pizza Stone on top of some WAX Paper and cut a round shape in the paper to match the stone. (ONE for each Pizza)

One hour before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position. Place large cookie sheet (UPSIDE DOWN) on the rack and add your Pizza Stone. Heat oven to 500 degrees

Put your sausage in a pan and saute, breaking up the sausage as you go.

When nice and brown, put in a bowl and set aside. When it is cool, CHOP it to finer pieces.

MAKE THE SAUCE.

In a bowl, combine the 5 Sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk. Put bowl in refrigerator.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter, divide in half.

Shape each half into a ball

Return one ball to the bowl and cover with plastic. Set aside.

Coat the remaining ball lightly with flour. Gently flatten with your finger tips into an 8 inch round shape.

Using a rolling pin, roll into a 12 inch round shape, dusting with flour as needed. If the dough 'springs back' during rolling, let it sit for 10 minutes. Then finish rolling it out.

Place one of your wax paper shapes on a pizza peel (The shiny side of the paper should face UP)

Place your 12 inch dough on top.

Now you can do some assembly

Using the back of a spoon spread some sauce (1 1/2 cups) on the dough in a thin layer to about 1/8 inch from the edge.

Sprinkle your sausage on top of the sauce, and add mushrooms if you like.

We added a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and some Garlic Salt

Top with a gaggle of cheese. (1 ½ Cups)

Add the Oregano on top.

CAREFULLY, slide the pizza and wax paper onto the stone.

Helpful HINT : Before you pre heat the oven PULL OUT the other racks......

Bake at 500 for about 5 minutes.

Using a flipper and some tongs, lift the pizza with the flippers and CAREFULLY pull out the paper using the tongs

Let the pizza sit on the stone, and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is NICE and BROWN and the edges are DARK and Crisp. (It may have to cook for more)

When done, CAREFULLY slide the Pizza on to your Pizza peel and remove from oven.

(Sorry, no pictures..we only have two hands )

Set Pizza on a cutting board and let sit for 10 minutes.

Assemble your next pizza.

Cut the completed Pizza into squares and serve while the next Pizza is cooking

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Results: It was GOOD !!!!! But not the same as Pizza King. Actually, it was not even close. However, it was the closest I've gotten so far. I will definitely try this recipe again. The sausage constancy and taste reminded me of those years in Indiana. The biggest issue was that we ran out of Mozzarella and I had to use Mexican 4 cheese. Now I do love that cheese, but it is no where NEAR what Pizza King used. I need to work on the dough to get it to look closer to the original, but the toppings were right on track. The sauce needs to go ALL the way to the edge. And I think the dough should be thinner. And with the right cheese, I think I'll come close to what I remember.

Here is the second Pizza we made. We had an issue getting it off of the paper and pulled the dough a bit. But is was just as good with some onions rather than mushrooms.