Details about my Chicago Tavern Style Attempt

[chefdavid374]

I used Kenji's and Crust Fund as inspiration for this pizza night attempt at Chicago Tavern Style.  They were all very thin, very crispy, and very delicious.  I think I'll try AP flour next time.  Curing the crusts out at room temp for 24 hours was interesting.  I can see how this method would make it relatively easy to make lots of pizzas quickly without having to roll out dough. 

The recipes and pictures:

Thin Crust Tavern Style Pizza
Makes 4 (14 inches each) Pizzas
Bakers %: 100%
King Arthur Special Patent Flour 100%
Water 50%
Instant Dry Yeast  0.5%
Salt 2%
Sugar 1%
Oil 8%
Total %: 179.5%

Recipe for 4 (300 grams each) dough balls:
King Arthur Special Patent Flour 750 grams
Instant Dry Yeast  4 grams
Salt 15 grams
Sugar 7 grams
Water, Warm (90 -100 degrees F) 370 grams
Oil 60 grams
Total:  1206 grams

Instructions:
Place the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a mixer.  Mix well.
Add the water and mix until the dough ball comes together.  Continue mixing until all the ingredients are fully mixed and the dough is cohesive.  Turn the machine off.  Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
Drizzle the oil in and continue mixing until the oil is fully combined. 
Transfer the dough to a clean counter and knead for a few minutes until the dough is very smooth. 
Divide the dough into four equal pieces (about 300 grams each) and form into balls.  Place each dough ball into separate lightly oiled quart containers, bowls, or gallon plastic bags.
Refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours but preferably 3 - 5 days.
The day before making pizzas, take the dough balls out of the refrigerator.  Remove one ball and coat it lightly in semolina flour (equal parts fine semolina and flour but regular flour will work too).  Roll with a rolling pin into a 14 inch circle.  Dust with some more semolina or flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Use a dough docker (optional) over the whole pizza.  This will help keep any bubbles from forming during the baking tomorrow.
Trim off any excess dough if desired to create a 14 inch circle.  Transfer the pizza skin to a parchment lined pan and repeat with the remaining dough balls.
Allow the pizza skins to rest, uncovered, at room temperature overnight. This will further dry out the dough and ensure a super crisp pizza.
Ready to make pizza? Preheat your oven with a pizza steel or baking stone in the center of the oven to 500 degrees F. 
Transfer one pizza skin to a pizza peel with the dryer side (the side that was facing up) down.  Top each pizza with 4 - 6 ounces of sauce (recipe below) and 1 Tablespoon grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese then 6 - 8 ounces of freshly shredded low moisture whole milk mozzarella cheese to the edges. 
Apply the toppings of your choice, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of dried oregano.
Note: A Chicago classic pizza topping is sauce, cheese, 6 ounces of raw Italian sausage (recipe below) torn and in little bits all over the pizza and about ½ cup of drained Chicago style giardiniera, which is available in the pickle section of some grocery stores.  If you have a Potbelly sandwich shop near you, they sell a very good giariniera they call "hot peppers."  It's spicy and delicious.
Transfer the pizza to the baking stone or steel and cook until it's brown and crispy, 8 - 10 minutes depending on the oven.  Check it at 8 minutes though.  I like my pizzas pretty well done but be careful the edges and bottoms don't burn.
Transfer the pizza to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cutting board or pizza box, cut it into squares, and serve.

Thin Crust Pizza Sauce:
28 ounce can tomato puree
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoons sugar (more or less to taste, I like a slightly sweet sauce)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
½ teaspoon ground fennel seed
½ teaspoon granulated garlic

Instructions:
Mix or puree all ingredients together.  Taste for seasoning.

Mild Italian Sausage Recipe (makes enough for 3 pizzas with 6 ounces sausage on each):
454 grams (1 pound) coarsely ground fatty pork (ground pork from Asian groceries is often ground coarsely with a high fat content)
15 grams (1 Tablespoon) garlic puree  (3 - 4 large garlic cloves grated on a microplane)
8 grams (1 Tablespoon) whole fennel seeds, toasted and crushed in a mortar and pestle or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin
7 grams salt (about 1 - 2 teaspoons depending on the type of salt)
5 grams (1 teaspoon) sugar
0.75 grams (1 teaspoon) dried oregano or marjoram
3 grams (1 teaspoon) black pepper (I have 16 mesh black pepper on hand for barbecue rubs so I just use that but freshly ground will be more potent)
3 Tablespoons (45 Ml.) cold white wine or water

Instructions:
Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until sticky or mix well with your hands in a bowl until sticky. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate.  The flavor will be best in about 12 hours.

Chicken, Garlic, and Spinach White Pizza
Note: I don't usually make this with chicken but people do love it
Makes 1 (14 inch) pizza
Creamy Garlic and Parmesan Sauce:
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon garlic paste (2 cloves garlic grated on a microplane)
½ cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon cream cheese
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste (about 1/16 teaspoon each)

Instructions:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the garlic.  Stir over medium heat until the garlic sizzles, about 15 seconds.  Don't brown the garlic.
Add the heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer over medium high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add the cream cheese and stir until dissolved.
Add the parmesan cheese, stir and remove from the heat. Season with salt, pepper, and a few gratings of fresh nutmeg.
If made ahead and refrigerated, it'll become too stiff to easily spread so pull it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for an hour before using.

Spinach Topping:
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon garlic puree (2 cloves garlic grated on a microplane)
6 ounces (¾ cup) cooked chopped spinach squeezed of all moisture
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste (about 1/16 teaspoon each)
1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Place the heavy cream and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for about 3 minutes.  Stir in the spinach (make sure it's been squeezed dry of all moisture), season with salt, pepper, and a frew gratings of fresh nutmeg.  Stir in the parmesan and set aside.

Cheese for Spinach Pizza:
3 ounces freshly grated low moisture whole milk mozzarella cheese
2 ounces freshly grated mild white cheddar
1 ounce freshly grated gruyere cheese  (optional but it adds a nice funky flavor to this pizza)

To Make one Pizza:
1 14 inch pizza skin (recipe above)
Creamy garlic parmesan sauce (recipe above)
Spinach topping (recipe above)
6 ounces cooked diced chicken (optional, I put it here because people seem to like it but I rarely put chicken on my pizza)
Cheese blend (ingredients above)

Instructions:
Spread the garlic and parmesan sauce evenly over the pizza skin. 
Evenly top with the spinach mixture and the chicken if using.
Mix all the cheeses together in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the pizza.
Bake at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes. 

[Pete-zza]

chefdavid374,

Nice job, and thanks for all the detail.

Peter