Pizza Dough

Adapted from the 'Deep Dish #1' recipe in "The Great Chicago-Style Pizza Cookbook"

Instructions

3 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 1/2 packets active dry yeast)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons to 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 2/3 cups bread flour
3/4 cup semolina or semolina durum flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil

If using instant yeast, you can do this in a bread machine.

If using active dry yeast, proof the yeast with 1/2 cup water and the tablespoon of sugar.

The original recipe called for 3 1/3 cups of flour, I have substituted 3/4 cup of semolina for 2/3 cup of bread flour.

The original recipe called for 1 cup of water, it usually took a little more than that to get a smooth dough, so when I added the semolina I increased the water to about 1 1/4 cups.

If using a mixer, cover the dough and let it rise for about 2 hours or until it doubles.

Divide the dough into balls (we usually get 6 balls of about 6 ounces each), spritz them with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise for another hour. You can refrigerate the dough balls for up to about a week, but de-gas them every day.

If making double-crusted deep dish pizza, the upper crust needs to be about 2/3 the weight of the lower crust. (We usually get 2 deep dish pizzas from this recipe, one of our pans is 12" in diameter, the other is 9" in diameter.)

To make a double-crust pizza, line a cast iron skillet with dough all the way up the side, put cheese, sauce and other toppings in, put on the second layer of dough and top with more sauce and cheese. Bake in the oven at 475 until the crust is brown and crisp.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This topic was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Mike Nolan.