Giordano’s Pizza

Best attempt at replicating Giordano’s stuffed Chicago-style pizza. Still tweaking, but not bad. The dough is enough for one pizza (with trimmings left over). The sauce is more than enough for one, possibly enough for two.

Crust:

·     ¾ cup warm water

·     2 tsp active dry yeast

·     ¾ tsp sugar

·     3 ½ cup all purpose flour

·     ¾ tsp kosher salt

·     ¾ tsp sugar

·     ¾ tsp garlic powder

·     ¾ cup corn oil

·     3 Tbsp warm water

·     2 Tbsp butter (for pan)

Sauce:

·     2 (140g) cans tomato puree (fijne tomatenpulp)

·     1 (500g) box diced tomatoes (tomaten-stukjes)

·     2 tsp sugar

·     2 tsp kosher salt

·     2 tsp crushed fresh garlic (1/4 tsp garlic powder)

·     2 tsp garlic salt

·     3 tsp black pepper

·     5 tsp basil

·     2 tsp marjoram

·     3 tsp oregano

·     1 tsp parsley

Toppings:

·     400 g (12 oz) mozzarella cheese (sliced from a block or shredded)

·     Salami, pepperoni, spinach, etc.

Dough

Proof 2 tsp yeast in ¾ cup warm water, adding in ¾ tsp sugar. Allow to proof 5 min.

In the bowl of a KitchenAid, mix together flour, salt, sugar, and garlic powder. Add oil and mix with dough hook. Add water & yeast mixture. Mix with dough hook for one minute on low, using spatula to scrape bottom. Add water, one Tbsp at a time, mixing for one minute between. Do NOT over-mix! Allow dough to rise 4 hours.

Original recipe recommends keeping dough in the fridge for at least 24 hours, for better texture and flavor. If refrigerating dough, pull it out for 2 hours to allow dough to return to room temperature. 

Sauce

Combine ingredients and set aside. Do not cook. I’d recommend straining the sauce if necessary to remove excess liquid.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 450ºF (=232ºC). Remove 1/3 of the dough and set aside. Roll out remaining 2/3 of the dough to make a 15 inch circle (1/4 inch thick). Grease a 9 inch springform pan (or cake pan) with butter. Place rolled dough in pan and tuck it in to reach the edges of the bottom. There should be excess dough hanging over the top of the pan.

Cover bottom of crust with toppings (pepperoni, etc.). Cover toppings with cheese.

Roll out remaining 1/3 of dough as thin as possible. Place on top of cheese and gently pinch all the way around the pan to seal the doughs together. Cut several small slits in top layer to release steam. 

Pour two ladles’ worth of sauce on top and swirl around so that sauce covers over the slits. Add two more ladles of sauce. Use a rolling pin or knife to cut excess dough from rim of pan. If desired, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Bake at 450º for 30 min. I recommend covering the crust with foil for the first 20 min to avoid burning. Remove when crust is golden brown.

Allow to sit 2 minutes, then serve.