Jeff Mauro’s Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza: Ingredients and Method

Deep-dish pizza asks for a different approach from a thin pizza baked on a stone. The pan supplies the shape, the cheese goes beneath the tomato layer, and the dough needs enough time to relax before being pressed up the sides.

The quantities below follow the published recipe attributed to Jeff Mauro. Attribution is confirmed by Food Network’s Jeff Mauro recipe. The instructions here are independently worded, with an added food-safety check. This is not a claim that WebSweetWeb developed or kitchen-tested Mauro’s recipe.

Ingredients and equipment

Use a 12-inch deep-dish pizza pan or suitable cake pan, a stand mixer with a dough hook, and an instant-read thermometer. A shallow pizza tray cannot hold the same construction.

• Dough: 1 teaspoon sugar; 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast; 11 ounces room-temperature water, about 80°F; 18 ounces all-purpose flour (the source gives approximately 3½ cups); 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar; ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons corn oil, plus a little for the bowl.
• Pan: 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter.
• Filling: 12 ounces sliced part-skim mozzarella; 1 pound bulk Italian sausage; 8 ounces thinly sliced pepperoni; one 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand; grated Parmesan for the top.

Weigh the flour when possible. A cup of flour varies with packing, so the stated weight is more reproducible than trying to reconcile cup measurements from different brands. The filling list describes the source recipe; its method uses sausage on one half and pepperoni on the other, not both piled thickly over the whole base.

Mix and raise the dough

Stir the sugar and yeast into the water and allow about 15 minutes for the mixture to become active. In the mixer bowl, combine flour, sea salt and cream of tartar. Add the yeast mixture and corn oil; bring everything together with a spatula before attaching the dough hook.

Mix on low for about 90 seconds. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow the dough to double, approximately six hours in the source method. Room temperature affects fermentation, so the change in volume is more useful than the clock alone. Deflate the risen dough gently and rest it for another 15 minutes.

Build the pizza

Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle. Brush the pan’s bottom and sides with melted butter. Use roughly three-quarters of the dough, pressing it across the base and up the walls. Reserve the unused dough separately. If it pulls back, give it another short rest instead of tearing it into place.

Cover the base with mozzarella slices. Spread a thin, even layer of sausage across one half and arrange pepperoni across the other. Add crushed tomatoes over the toppings without flooding the pan with excess can liquid. Finish with Parmesan. Keep the wall of dough intact so sauce does not run behind it.

Bake and check the center

Begin checking at approximately 25 minutes, rotating the pan partway through. The crust should be deeply golden, but appearance alone cannot verify the sausage. Ground pork sausage needs to reach 160°F (71°C); poultry sausage requires 165°F (74°C). These are federal minimum cooking temperatures, not a promise that every pizza will finish in the same number of minutes.

If the top is browning before the interior is ready, loosely protect the top with foil and continue checking. Let the pizza stand about five minutes before cutting so the filling settles. Protect hands and surfaces from the hot pan; deep-dish pans retain heat after the pizza leaves the oven.

Avoid the common problems

A thick raw sausage mound may remain undercooked while the crust browns. Very wet tomatoes can overwhelm the base. Stiff dough can shrink down the sides. Respect the layer thickness, drain obvious excess liquid and give resistant dough time rather than solving every problem by adding flour. Refrigerate leftovers promptly; use the cooked-meat storage guidance and reheat leftovers to 165°F.

Related reading: Meredith Hayden’s Chopped Greek-Style Salad With Grilled Chicken.

You may also want to plan a useful kitchen equipment kit.