Pizza Recipes

Pizza Dough Recipe

• 2 packs rapid rise dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• ½  cup vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• ½  cup cornmeal
• 5 ½  cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of a standing mixer, pour the yeast into the water and stir to dissolve. Add the oils, cornmeal, and half (2 ¾ cups) of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes. Attach the dough hook, and slowly mix in the remaining flour. Knead for several minutes with the mixer. (Note: At first, dough will be rich and thick. Kneading by hand would be difficult.)Remove dough from the mixer and place on a clean countertop or cutting board. Cover dough with a very large metal bowl and allow it to rise until the dough doubles in bulk. Punch dough down and allow it to rise again. Punch down a second time and you are ready to assemble your own Chicago-style pizza!

Lightly grease a deep-dish pizza pan with oil. Depending on the size of your pan, place some of the dough in the pan and carefully push it out to the edges using your fingers. Be careful not to stretch too far as holes will appear in the dough. Put in an adequate amount of dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan, effectively making a sort of bowl. Make it about 1/8-inch thick all throughout the pan.