Chicago-style pizza
Encyclopedia
Chicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza
style developed in Chicago
. Chicago-style pizza has a buttery crust up to three inches tall at the edge, slightly higher than the large amounts of cheese
and chunky tomato sauce
, acting as a large bowl. The term also refers to "stuffed" pizza, another Chicago style. While in Chicago most pizzerias serve thin-crust pizza, generally in a style characteristic to the city, the term Chicago-style pizza is used to describe this deep-dish style of pizza.
The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno
, in Chicago, in 1943, reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell
, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News
asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.
This pizza is far from the roots of an original Italian pizza. It does not include thin crusts or delicate toppings, but rather it is made with a heavy, thick crust and large amounts of cheese, sauce and ingredients.
The pizza begins with a thick layer of dough made with olive oil and cornmeal laid into a deep round pan and pulled up by the sides, then parbaked
before the toppings are added, to give it greater spring; the pan is oiled heavily in order to create a fried
effect on the outside of the crust. The crust is covered with cheese (generally sliced mozzarella) and meat, usually in a solid layer or patty, just above the crust. Italian sausage
(a Chicago staple), as well as vegetables such as onions, mushrooms and bell pepper
s are also used. A sauce, usually uncooked, made from shredded or puréed tomatoes is added.
Another deep-dish restaurant is Uno's companion restaurant Due, opened down the block by Sewell in 1955. However, a year before, the Original Gino's Pizza opened on Rush Street. Twelve years later, in 1966, Gino's East
opened. Lou Malnati's was founded by another of Rudy Malnati's sons.
In 1972, the Chicago Tribune
reported that a steakhouse chain called "Gulliby's at S.O.P." offered "pub dining rooms that feature deep-dish pizza and sandwiches."
Some Chicago deep-dish pizza restaurants ship their partially baked pizzas within the continental U.S.
pie from his hometown of Potenza
. The Giordano brothers worked for Palese as cooks and split off on their own in the early 1970s. Chicago Magazine articles featuring Nancy's Pizza and Giordano's stuffed pizza popularized the dish.
Stuffed pizzas are often even deeper than deep-dish pizzas, but otherwise, it can be hard to see the difference until it is cut into. A stuffed pizza generally has much deeper topping density than any other type of pizza. As with deep-dish pizza, a deep layer of dough forms a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the crust.
At this stage, the thin dough top has a rounded, domed appearance. Pizza makers often tear a small hole in the top of the "lid" to allow air and steam to escape while cooking, so that the pizza does not explode and injure the pizza maker, and also to allow the sauce to permeate the pie. Pizza sauce is ladled over the top crust and the pizza is baked.
. Toppings and cheese frequently go on the top of a pan pizza, rather than under the sauce as is traditionally the case with deep-dish and stuffed pizza. The placement of the cheese and toppings on top make the pan pizza variety similar to a thin-crust pizza with a thicker and larger crust.
.
The crust is topped with a liberal quantity of Italian style
tomato sauce, which usually has quite a lot of herbs or is highly spiced, and typically contains no visible chunks of tomato. Next, a layer of toppings is added, and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese. This pizza is cut into squares, also known as party cut or tavern cut, as opposed to a pie cut into wedges. However, the consistency of the crust and the quantity and choice of the tomato sauce and cheese are what separate this style from East Coast- and Roman-style pizzas, and it makes the pizza from most neighborhood pizzerias immediately distinguishable from that offered by national chains such as Papa John's
or Pizza Hut
. Aurelio's
is a chain which specializes in this kind of pizza.
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
style developed in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Chicago-style pizza has a buttery crust up to three inches tall at the edge, slightly higher than the large amounts of cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
and chunky tomato sauce
Tomato sauce
A tomato sauce is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish...
, acting as a large bowl. The term also refers to "stuffed" pizza, another Chicago style. While in Chicago most pizzerias serve thin-crust pizza, generally in a style characteristic to the city, the term Chicago-style pizza is used to describe this deep-dish style of pizza.
Deep-dish pizza
Uno Chicago Grill
Uno Chicago Grill, or more informally as Unos, is the title for a franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation...
, in Chicago, in 1943, reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell
Ike Sewell
Issac "Ike" Sewell was an American athlete, businessman, entrepreneur, and founder of the Uno Chicago Grill restaurant chain that originated in Chicago, Illinois, as well as founder of the Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due restaurants there in 1943 and 1955, respectively...
, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.
This pizza is far from the roots of an original Italian pizza. It does not include thin crusts or delicate toppings, but rather it is made with a heavy, thick crust and large amounts of cheese, sauce and ingredients.
The pizza begins with a thick layer of dough made with olive oil and cornmeal laid into a deep round pan and pulled up by the sides, then parbaked
Parbaking
Parbaking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen for storage. The raw dough is baked as if normal, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen...
before the toppings are added, to give it greater spring; the pan is oiled heavily in order to create a fried
Deep frying
Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....
effect on the outside of the crust. The crust is covered with cheese (generally sliced mozzarella) and meat, usually in a solid layer or patty, just above the crust. Italian sausage
Italian sausage
In the United States, Italian sausage most often refers to a style of pork sausage noted for being seasoned with fennel and/or anise as the primary seasoning...
(a Chicago staple), as well as vegetables such as onions, mushrooms and bell pepper
Bell pepper
Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper and capsicum , is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum . Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as...
s are also used. A sauce, usually uncooked, made from shredded or puréed tomatoes is added.
Another deep-dish restaurant is Uno's companion restaurant Due, opened down the block by Sewell in 1955. However, a year before, the Original Gino's Pizza opened on Rush Street. Twelve years later, in 1966, Gino's East
Gino's East
Gino's East is a Chicago-based restaurant chain, notable for its deep-dish pizza , and for its interior walls, which thousands of patrons have covered in graffiti and etchings.-Cuisine:...
opened. Lou Malnati's was founded by another of Rudy Malnati's sons.
In 1972, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reported that a steakhouse chain called "Gulliby's at S.O.P." offered "pub dining rooms that feature deep-dish pizza and sandwiches."
Some Chicago deep-dish pizza restaurants ship their partially baked pizzas within the continental U.S.
Stuffed pizza
By the mid-1970s, two Chicago chains, Nancy's Pizza, founded by Rocco Palese, and Giordano's Pizza began experimenting with deep dish pizza and created the stuffed pizza. Palese based his creation on his mother's recipe for scarciedda, an Italian EasterEaster
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
pie from his hometown of Potenza
Potenza
-Transportation:Potenza is a rail junction on the main line from Salerno to Taranto, managed by FS Trenitalia; it has also a connection to Altamura, served by the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane regional company...
. The Giordano brothers worked for Palese as cooks and split off on their own in the early 1970s. Chicago Magazine articles featuring Nancy's Pizza and Giordano's stuffed pizza popularized the dish.
Stuffed pizzas are often even deeper than deep-dish pizzas, but otherwise, it can be hard to see the difference until it is cut into. A stuffed pizza generally has much deeper topping density than any other type of pizza. As with deep-dish pizza, a deep layer of dough forms a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the crust.
At this stage, the thin dough top has a rounded, domed appearance. Pizza makers often tear a small hole in the top of the "lid" to allow air and steam to escape while cooking, so that the pizza does not explode and injure the pizza maker, and also to allow the sauce to permeate the pie. Pizza sauce is ladled over the top crust and the pizza is baked.
Pan pizza
Pan pizza in Chicago is similar to the deep-dish style, and baked in a similar deep-sided pan, but its crust is quite thick—a cross between the buttery crisp crust and focacciaFocaccia
Focaccia is a flat oven-baked Italian bread, which may be topped with herbs or other ingredients. It is related to pizza, but not considered to be the same....
. Toppings and cheese frequently go on the top of a pan pizza, rather than under the sauce as is traditionally the case with deep-dish and stuffed pizza. The placement of the cheese and toppings on top make the pan pizza variety similar to a thin-crust pizza with a thicker and larger crust.
Thin-crust pizza
There is also a style of thin-crust pizza found in Chicago and throughout the rest of the Midwestern USA. The crust is thin and firm enough to have a noticeable crunch, unlike a New York-style pizzaNew York-style pizza
New York-style pizza originated in New York City in the early 1900s. It is known for its large, wide, thin and foldable shape. The traditional toppings were tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, with any additional toppings placed with the cheese. It is traditionally hand-tossed and light on sauce...
.
The crust is topped with a liberal quantity of Italian style
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...
tomato sauce, which usually has quite a lot of herbs or is highly spiced, and typically contains no visible chunks of tomato. Next, a layer of toppings is added, and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese. This pizza is cut into squares, also known as party cut or tavern cut, as opposed to a pie cut into wedges. However, the consistency of the crust and the quantity and choice of the tomato sauce and cheese are what separate this style from East Coast- and Roman-style pizzas, and it makes the pizza from most neighborhood pizzerias immediately distinguishable from that offered by national chains such as Papa John's
Papa John's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza is the third largest take-out and delivery pizza restaurant chain in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza. It is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Papa John's slogan is "Better Ingredients. Better pizza. Papa John's"...
or Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
. Aurelio's
Aurelio's Pizza
Aurelio's Pizza is an Illinois restaurant chain which centers its business around the thin crust variety of Chicago-style pizza. Aurelio's Pizza has two corporate owned stores and 44 franchised locations in 6 states.-Aurelio's Pizza History:...
is a chain which specializes in this kind of pizza.
See also
- Culture of ChicagoCulture of ChicagoThe culture of Chicago, Illinois, is particularly known for various forms of performing arts, such as improvisational comedy, and music, such as Chicago blues and soul...
- ApizzaApizzaNew Haven-style pizza, locally known as apizza, is a style of Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut. It originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably, Sally's Apizza, Bar Bru Room, Grand Apizza,...
, or New Haven-style pizza - CalzoneCalzoneA calzone Italian: , "stocking" or "trouser") is a turnover that originates from Italy. It is shaped like a semicircle, made of dough folded over and filled with ingredients common to pizza....
and stromboliStromboli (food)Stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats such as salami, capicola and bresaola or vegetables... - Chicago-style hot dogChicago-style hot dogA Chicago-style hot dog, or Chicago Dog, is a steamed or water-simmered all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun, originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois...
- Italian BeefItalian beefAn Italian beef is a sandwich of thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll, believed to have originated in Chicago, where its history dates back at least to the 1930s...
- Portillo's
- Detroit-style pizzaDetroit-style pizzaDetroit-style pizza is a style of pizza, developed in Detroit. It is a square pizza similar to Sicilian-style pizza that has a thick deep-dish crust that is crisp in texture, cooked toppings such as pepperoni and olives, and is served with the marinara pizza sauce on the top of the pizza...
- New York-style pizzaNew York-style pizzaNew York-style pizza originated in New York City in the early 1900s. It is known for its large, wide, thin and foldable shape. The traditional toppings were tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, with any additional toppings placed with the cheese. It is traditionally hand-tossed and light on sauce...
- PizzaPizzaPizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
- St. Louis-style pizzaSt. Louis-style pizzaSt. Louis-style pizza is a distinct style of pizza popular in St. Louis, Missouri, and surrounding areas. The definitive characteristics of St. Louis-style pizza are a super-thin yeast-less crust, the common use of Provel processed cheese, and pizzas cut into squares or rectangles instead of large...
- Sausage breadSausage breadSausage bread refers to American food using sausage and other ingredients rolled or enclosed in dough and cooked in an oven.Sausage bread is typically made from pizza dough and includes sausage, mozzarella cheese and other ingredients such as mushrooms, onions, other vegetables, and various herbs,...