Thanks again buzz for an absolutely excellent recipe!
Giordano’s Famous Stuffed Crust Recipe
Scaled for 9inch Pizza
Dough Ingredients:
3 cups Ceresota or King Arthur Brand All-Purpose Flour (Measured Scoop and Sweep using a butter knife)
1 ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 ½ teaspoon Granulated Sugar
11 teaspoons Wesson Canola Oil (individually measured level tsps.)
1 teaspoon Bertolli’s Classic Olive Oil
¾ cup Warm Water
1 ½ teaspoon SAF Yeast
Sauce Recipe: Make Ahead of Time
1 – 28oz. Can Escalon Brand 6-in-1 All Purpose Ground Tomatoes (completely drained in a double fine strainer) (When I used escalon straight out of the can I got soup).
3/4 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 teaspoon Sugar
¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
Making the Dough
Proof the yeast. Mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add yeast mixture. With Kitchenaid start mixing with the paddle attachment on stir or speed 1. Once all ingredients are added and blended. Use your hands to start to form the dough into a rough ball, Add more water if necessary.
Switch to Dough Hook & knead Exactly one minute. This is the key to the biscuit/pie-like quality of Chicago deep dish pizza. The more you knead, the more bready the result will be. So a short knead is the real secret!
Weigh the dough ball. Break off 1/3 of the dough ball by weight, this will be the top crust.
Let the dough rise once at room temperature, punch down and place in refrigerator for at least 7 hours. Take out and let it reach room temperature (about 2 hours).
Because of the amount of oil in the crust, you really don't need any bench flour. I don't use any at all, and don't recommend it.
Roll the dough balls out very thin with a rolling pin, so they easily overlap the pan. About 11 inches for the top crust. 12 inches for bottom crust
Grease a 9inch using a thin layer of Crisco, and lots of melted butter.
Once they rolled flat and thin for the final time, immediately put it in the 9" deep dish pan, don't let it rise in the pan. The size of the dough should be larger than the pan. Fit the Bottom Layer so that it hangs freely over the edge of the pan evenly. Coat the Top of the dough with a thin layer of olive oil & butter. Add the cheese, layering the toppings and cheese. Don’t use more then 10oz. of cheese.
Apply Top Layer of Dough, the top should be thin and roughly the same diameter as the previous dough. Press the dough down to open up room for the sauce. Poke a couple of thin holes in the top layer of the crust. Now, Align the 2 doughs. Using a Rolling Pin, roll around the outside edge of the pan pressing the 2 doughs together and cutting the excess dough off in the process.
Apply a thin layer of Olive Oil & Butter to the top crust as well. Don’t prebake the crust.
Now take the well drained sauce, and pour it directly onto the top of the Pizza, making sure not to spill over the sides. You won't use all the sauce only about 18-20 ounces.
I let my oven pre-heat at 500 for 15 minutes. I put the pizza on the Bottom Rack, turn it to 450, and let it cook about 25 - 30 minutes.
Top with a little Grated Parmesan Cheese
Your Done!
Great Thin Crust pizza - Use the left over dough scraps. If you didn't use any bench flour when rolling then the scraps should easily roll into a ball. Using a rolling pin, roll very thin. Place in pan, and parbake for 3 - 4 minutes. Add left over Escalon Sauce, top with Mozzarella, and toppings, and bake at 450 for 8-9 minutes.
