How to Make Deep-Dish Pizza

(Want to jump straight to the recipe? Here’s a printable, picture-less PDF.)

My deep-dish pizza skills are all thanks to Cook’s Illustrated…without them, I’d have had no clue how to go about making this at home.

Why is this pizza so tasty?

Well, the dough bakes up into a soft, lofty crust.

And because the pans are oiled, the bottom of the crust is delightfully crispy without being hard or crunchy.

This isn’t a Chicago-style deep dish pizza, where the cheese is topped by sauce.   It’s more akin to a pan pizza you might order at a restaurant.

(Although my Baking Illustrated book calls it Deep-Dish Pizza, so I’m not sure what’s up with that?)

A few notes:

Cook’s original recipe uses the food processor to mix the dough, but I get very annoyed whenever I try to use that instead of my stand mixer (also, my food processor sounds a little wheezy when I try to make it mix stiff yeast dough). So, I do this in my stand mixer, and I just finish up the kneading on the countertop.

Also, their recipe calls for a large deep dish pan. Fortunately for me (since I don’t own one of those!), they also included directions for using two 9-inch cake pans instead.

My cake pans are nothing special, but they’ve been working just fine, and I’m thrilled that I don’t have to buy and store an enormous deep dish pan.

It’s best to have a pizza stone for this recipe, but if you don’t, never fear…there is a workaround in the recipe. 😉 A more condensed version of this recipe (more suitable for printing) is here.

Part of the secret to this pizza’s springy dough is the lowly potato, which does magical things to yeast doughs.   So, start by peeling and quartering a russet potato.  

Heat 1 quart of water to boiling. Add the potato, and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.   Let the potato pieces cool a bit, and then grate them on the fine side of a box grater (or use a potato ricer.)

Measure 1 1/3 cup of lightly packed potato(save any extra for another purpose).

Combine 3 cups of flour, yeast, and salt in a mixer bowl.

Mix together, and add water and two tablespoons oil.

Beat in grated potato, and let the dough mix for 2-3 minutes.

It’ll be fairly thick at this point.

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter.

Knead for a few minutes, adding flour as necessary.

Place the dough back into the mixer bowl (I never bother washing it first!) and cover with a wet tea towel.   Let the dough rise for an 45-60 minutes, or until it’s doubled.

How long that will take depends greatly on the temperature in your home.   It’ll rise way faster in the summer than in the winter!

Gently turn the dough out onto the counter and divide it in half.   Stretch each half into a 9-inch circle.

Measure 2 tablespoons of oil into each cake pan and swirl to coat the bottom.   Place one piece of dough into each pan.   Let the dough rest for ten minutes, and then try to stretch the dough up the sides of the pans.

Honestly, this rarely works for me because the oil makes the dough so slippery that it falls right back down.   I keep on trying, but I really have no idea why.

Maybe you’ll have better luck than me!

Cover the pans with a wet tea towel, and let the crusts rise for 30 minutes, or until soft and puffy.

Meanwhile, place a pizza stone on the lower rack of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can instead place a rimless baking sheet on the lower rack of the oven.

When the crusts have risen, poke them all over with a fork, and place them in the oven on top of the pizza stone or baking sheet, and bake for 5-10 minutes (I usually do 10 minutes), or until lightly browned. This will help the dough to develop some structure so that the toppings won’t make it fall and go flat.

I apologize for this blurry picture…this is the par-baked crust, but I only took one picture (and a bad one at that) of the crust at this stage.

Take the pans out of the oven and add tomato sauce and cheese (plus other toppings if you wish).

Bake on pizza stone or inverted baking sheet for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts. I sometimes move the pizza stone to the middle rack of the oven for this, because I have problems with my crust getting too brown if I leave it near the bottom of the oven (my oven tends to be hotter at the bottom than at the top).

Move the pizzas to the top rack of the oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese turns spotty brown.

Use a knife to loosen the pizzas from the pans, and turn out onto a cutting board or cooling rack.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Happy pizza making!

Deep Dish Pizza

Printable Deep Dish Pizza Recipe

Ingredients
1 medium baking potato (about 9 ounces), peeled and quartered
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 3/4 teaspoons table salt
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and whatever toppings you desire

1. Bring 1 quart water to a boil.   Add potato, and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until potato is very soft.   Let potato cool, then grate on the fine side of a box grater.   Measure 1 1/3 cups of loosely packed potato; set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 c. flour with yeast and salt.   With the mixer running, add water and 2 tablespoons oil.   Beat for 1 minute, then beat in grated potato.

Beat for another 2-3 minutes, then turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, adding flour as ncessary, for   3-5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.   Place dough in bowl, cover with wet tea towel, and let rise until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

3. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into two 9-inch cake pans, tilting to spread oil over bottoms of pans.

Gently turn dough out onto counter, divide in half, and shape each half into a 9-inch round.   Place dough in pans; cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Press edges of dough up sides of pans; cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

4. While dough rises, place a pizza stone on the lower rack of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can instead place a rimless baking sheet on the lower rack of the oven.

5. When the crusts have risen, poke them all over with a fork, and place them in the oven on top of the pizza stone or inverted baking sheet, and bake for 5-10 minutes (I usually do 10 minutes), or until lightly browned. This will help the dough to develop some structure so that the toppings won’t make it fall and go flat.

6. Take the pizzas out of the oven and add tomato sauce, cheese, and desired toppings. Bake on pizza stone or baking sheet for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese melts. I sometimes move the pizza stone to the middle rack of the oven for this, because I have problems with my crust getting too brown if I leave it near the bottom of the oven (my oven tends to be hotter at the bottom than at the top).

7. Move the pizzas to the top rack of the oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese turns spotty brown. Use a knife to loosen the pizzas from the pans, and turn out onto a cutting board. Cut into wedges and serve.