The first time my husband and I visited Chicago, he took me to Giordano’s Pizzeria just to make me take in the smells of the pizza. Even though he could no longer eat the deep-dish pizza, his former favorite dish, the smell was enough of an experience to satisfy his nostalgia for the days before celiac and kosher. Shortly after developing Blends by Orly, I was given the challenging opportunity to develop a gluten-free deep-dish pizza for a restaurant in LA. You can only imagine the excitement in my husband’s eyes (and mouth) when he dug his teeth into his first gluten-free deep-dish pizza. This recipe has a crusty outside and soft doughy inside. If you don’t want to make your own sauce, you can use jarred tomato sauce. This extra cheesy Gluten Free Chicago Style Pizza will dress to impress.
Gluten Free "Chicago Style" Deep Dish Pizza
Makes one 12" pizza
Dough:
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (105-110° F)
1/3 cup vegetable or corn oil
2 cups Tuscany Blend
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Mix: In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, dissolve the yeast with water and sugar. Add the oil and blend. Add the flour and salt and mix thoroughly for 4 minutes at medium speed, until the dough is smooth.
Proof: Add olive oil to a deep bowl. Place the dough ball into the bowl and turn it twice to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours or in an oven set to 100° F for 30 min.
Make Sauce: Once the dough has nearly doubled in size, start the sauce. In a mixing bowl, combine the canned ground tomatoes, oregano, basil and Romano cheese and mix together. You can alternatively use your favorite jarred sauce. Set aside.
Assemble & Bake: Preheat oven to 475°F. Coat the the sides and base of a 12" x 1½" deep dish pizza pan or cake pan with olive oil or olive oil spray. Spread and push the dough ball across the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Lay the slices of mozzarella and provolone on top of the dough, overlapping the slices to cover all of the dough. Spread the tomato mixture evenly over the cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes until crust is golden brown. Optional: sprinkle some grated Romano cheese or Parmesan cheese on top. Remove from pan with two spatulas, slice and serve!
Sauce
1½ cups canned ground tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 tbsp grated Romano cheese
Toppings
5 oz (10 thin slices) part-skim mozzarella cheese
5 oz (10 thin slices) provolone cheese
