I'm attempting to make my own Malnati's pizza at home, in a multiple-day experiment to attempt to figure out how to capture mysteries of the Chicago-style pizza.
I feel it's very important for the world to know the truth about Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It is a subject very near and dear to my heart. I grew up eating it, and there's nothing like it in the world. Many people have heard of Chicago-style pizza, and I've seen it put up against New York pizza in taste tests on various television shows. Such comparisons are pointless. When people hear the word pizza they think of a particular thing. Chicago-style pizza isn't really the same thing at all. I wish it had a name besides pizza, actually. It's like comparing Texas-style chili to New England clam chowder. They both go in a bowl, but there's no comparison. That's the problem with Chicago-style pizza being put in the category of pizza. It is its own thing.
People's misunderstanding of what Chicago-style pizza is, is exacerbated by the fact that there is a type of regular pizza called 'pan pizza' which many people are familiar with, so when they hear that Chicago-style is deep dish, they think it just means that. Add to that the fact that there are numerous places claiming to serve "Chicago-style" pizza that simply aren't, and you have a very confusing topic. There's a pizza place here in Denver whose sign reads "the original Chicago style pizza" and I fume every time I drive by. They ARE NOT the original Chicago-style pizza! Their pizza is just pan pizza. They're not even making it right.
Here is the truth: Uno's first served the original Chicago-style deep dish pizza many decades ago. However, Lou Malnati's father, who cooked for Uno's at the time, was credited with the actual invention of the pizza. In 1971, Lou Malnati opened his own restaurant. Uno's and Malnati's still fight over who actually gets credit for inventing the pizza. I side with Malnati's. But either way, if you aren't eating pizza at Uno's or Malnati's, you aren't eating the original Chicago-style pizza. Many places even in Chicago don't make it like they do. And if you've never had Malnat's (or Uno's), you don't know what you are missing. It is something very special, and there's nothing in the world that tastes like it.
There are a few very important things that make Malnati's pizza what it is. First of all, the crust is totally different. This is very important: It's NOT regular pizza crust in a deeper pan. I've seen restaurants all over take a standard yeast pizza dough and put it in a deep dish pan and call it Chicago style. But actually, Malnati's dough is more like a pie crust. It is buttery and flaky and I'm pretty sure they don't even use yeast at all. Second, they put layers of sliced (not shredded) cheese on the bottom. Third, they don't use tomato sauce - they use crushed canned whole tomatoes with no cooking or seasoning, layered on top of the cheese. Really the whole thing is more like a pie or a casserole than it is like what you think of as pizza.
I have finally decided to figure out a way to cook a Malnati's style pizza at home. The main problem is going to be the crust, since theirs is a secret recipe. I have determined to turn my kitchen into a test kitchen until I figure out how to make a pizza that is close enough to my beloved Chicago style. I created my first one tonite.
I started with my basic savory pie crust dough, the one I use for quiches and the like. That is just flour, salt, baking powder, and cold butter mixed together, and then water added until it forms a dough. For the pizza, I instead left out some of the butter, which I melted, and mixed with olive oil and water, to add during the water stage. I oiled my cast iron skillet and pressed the dough into it the way Malnati's does. For cheese, I used mostly mozzarella and a little bit of provolone because I couldn't find the type of mozz I wanted to use and I thought that combo would get me a little closer to the right flavor. Then I seeded some whole canned tomatoes and hand crushed them and topped the cheese.
The verdict on my first attempt is, let's say, 6 out of 10. Cheese was almost perfect. Tomatoes were great, but I should have put more on. I used grated parmiggiano reggiano insteaad of pecorino which is what I think they use, and that was fine. The main problem was of course the crust. My crust was a good start, but it didn't taste like Malnati's pizza crust... it tasted like my quiche crust. I'm going to fiddle with the recipe and do some online research and try again in a couple days. I even made sure to stock up on butter so I could make as many crusts as I needed to get it right.
I am determined to figure out how to make Malnati's pizza at home. I will keep you updated as I work it all out. Wish me luck!
Happy eating!
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