I’ve been craving pizza, wanting to try the Chicago deep-dish style, and also experiencing a really intense summer heat wave. This all made it high time I learn to cook pizza on my grill. Little did I know the combination of a cast iron pan and the close-heat in my gas grill would result in a perfect crispy-fried crust. The oven instructions also included have good results too, but using the grill is definitely the win for a tasty fried texture and for keeping your house cool in a hot summer.
Preheated to about 550°F, then flames turned down and pans loaded
You may have noticed the word Chicago didn’t make it into the recipe title. That’s because there isn’t a lot of butter or oil in the dough, nor are the pizzas formed in straight-sided aluminum or carbon steel pans. The recipe is Chicago-inspired though, in how the crust is more tender than chewy, the order of the toppings, and how the pizza showcases a super delicious sauce. Credit goes to Sally’s Baking Addiction for the idea to put grated onion in the tomato sauce.
Grated onion, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes
One really neat aspect of this pizza dough is that it contains fresh-milled yellow dent corn flour. Store bought fine cornmeal is a good substitute. This adds a slightly crackly texture to the outside of the crust, some yellow color, and most important: tasty corn flavor. Whether this makes the dough more authentically Chicago-style is debatable. In this Real Deep Dish pizza rant blog post from 2009, the author explains that the use of corn meal in Chicago-style pizza dough is a misconception about the source of the dough’s yellow color, which comes from either food coloring or corn oil. Even if the inclusion of corn flour evolved from an error, it adds good flavor and texture so it’s in this dough. To learn more about authentic Chicago deep dish pizza, check out this video of Mark Malnati from the Deep Dish Pizza episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Make sure you scroll down to the Photo Gallery after the recipe for process pics and to see the different crust outcomes when you shape the dough with a rolling pin vs. hand stretching, and check out our video below that shows how to assemble this pizza.
Choose between sourdough or instant yeast in this recipe for deep dish cast-iron pan pizza. It’s loosely inspired by Chicago style deep dish pizza with a tender crust that contains corn flour and generous amounts of cheese and flavorful tomato sauce. Use the oven to bake the pizzas or grill them outside for a spectacular almost-fried crust texture.
Ingredients
Dough for two 10-inch pan pizzas (Yeast Variation)
- 400 grams organic tipo 00 flour or organic bread flour (3 1/8 cups) *
- 60 grams fresh-milled corn or fine cornmeal (1/2 cup)
- 12 grams sugar (1 Tbsp)
- 7 grams salt (1 1/4 tsp)
- 300-320 grams water (1 1/4 – 1 1/3 cups)
- 7 grams instant yeast (2 tsp) **
- 12 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
- for the cast iron pans, an additional 2 Tbsp oil or butter
Dough for two 10-inch pan pizzas (Sourdough Variation)
- 370 grams organic tipo 00 flour or organic bread flour (2 7/8 cups) *
- 60 grams fresh-milled corn or fine cornmeal (1/2 cup)
- 12 grams sugar (1 Tbsp)
- 7 grams salt (1 1/4 tsp)
- 270-290 grams water (1 1/8 – 1 1/4 cups)
- 60 grams sourdough starter (scant 1/4 cup)
- 12 grams olive oil (1 Tbsp)
- for the cast iron pans, an additional 2 Tbsp oil or butter
Tomato Sauce (you will use 2-3 cups for the two pizzas and can freeze the rest)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion, grated (about 1/2 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, immersion blended or broken apart with your fingers
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- salt to taste, 1/2 – 1 tsp
- optional sugar to taste, ~1/4 tsp
Cheese (for both pizzas)
- 3-4 cups shredded mozzarella (12-16 ounces)
- 1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan or percorino romano
Instructions
- You can prepare the sauce ahead or make it during the first rise of the dough. If you’re planning to grill the two pizzas, assess whether your pans fit in your grill.
- The YEAST dough needed about 1 hour for the first rise in a warm 78°F kitchen. Refrigerated for the final proof, this dough reached almost double in 1 1/2 hours. At warm room temps, the second rise took 30 minutes.
- The SOURDOUGH dough needed about 5 1/2 hours for the first rise in a warm 78°F kitchen. The final proof was 2 1/2 hours also at warm room temps.
Sauce Prep
- In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil and saute the grated onion, garlic, red pepper flakes and dried oregano.
- Add the can of tomatoes (immersion blended or hand crushed) and the small can of tomato paste.
- Mix and let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Salt to taste and consider adding a small amount of sugar if desired.
Dough Mixing and Fermentation
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, salt) minus the instant yeast if you’re doing that variation.
- In a smaller bowl, mix together the water (start with the smaller end of the range), oil, and instant yeast or sourdough starter.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. Only add more water if you need it to incorporate the dry ingredients.
- Transfer the dough to a clean work surface and knead or slap and fold for about a minute. Add flour a little at a time if the dough is very sticky-wet.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl or dough bucket and let it rise until it has doubled in size. Depending on the ambient and dough temperatures, this could take 1-2 hours for yeast and 4-7 hours for sourdough.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, divide it in half, and roll the pieces into two tight balls.
- Oil two take-out containers (quart size) or a 9×13″ baking dish, place the dough balls inside, and cover.
- Let the dough rise to almost double in size again. This may take 30-90 minutes with yeast, and 2-4 hours with sourdough, temperature dependent.
Pizza Assembly and Baking
- Just before you begin assembling the pizzas, prep your cast iron pans with oil or melted butter and begin preheating your oven or grill. If you plan to hand stretch the doughs, immediately place them in the greased pans so they can begin relaxing outward.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F – OR – turn on the grill to the hottest setting.
- Set up your pizza assembly station with the pans, 3-4 cups of shredded mozzarella, tomato sauce, a large spoon, grated parmesan or pecorino romano, additional dried oregano, flour for dusting your workspace, and a rolling pin. (If you plan to hand stretch the dough, you don’t need the flour and rolling pin.)
- Rolling pin shaping: Place one of the doughs on your lightly floured work surface and roll it into a circle ~13 inches in diameter. Lift and place the dough into a pan. Repeat with the second dough.
- Hand stretching: Press one of the doughs outward from the center toward the edge of the pan, rotating in a circle. Switch to the other dough and do the same, letting the first rest. Repeat a few times until the doughs fill the pans.
- Add 1 1/2 – 2 cups mozzarella to the top of each dough, followed by any optional toppings like pepperoni or vegetables. Then spread on 1 – 1 1/2 cups of the tomato sauce, grated parmesan or pecorino romano to taste, and several shakes of dried oregano.
- Oven: Load the two pans into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is browned.
- Grill: When the grill is around 550°F, turn down the flames to the lowest setting, place the two pans inside, and close the lid. The temperature should drop over the next few minutes. If it settles around 425°F, continue grilling for about 20 minutes. If the temperature drops lower than 425°F, turn up the flames as needed. If your grill won’t get as low as 425°F, aim to end the bake earlier than 20 minutes and if possible, add a barrier under the pans e.g. an aluminum baking sheet. Make sure you use oven mitts and only use materials that are safe at high temps and not vulnerable to thermal shock. The top of the pizzas likely won’t need to be covered because grilling tends to make a crispier/darker base than top.
- Let the pizzas cool in the pans on racks for about 10 minutes before you remove them and serve.
Notes
* The crust of these pizzas is quite tender even with the use of strong flour. If you’d like to use all purpose flour for an even softer crust, reduce the water by 20-30 grams.
** Feel free to use less yeast for a longer process and more flavor development. For example, less than 1/2 tsp instant yeast should make it possible to refrigerate the dough overnight after the first rise for more flavor development. Make sure you put the dough in the coldest part of your refrigerator.
