Chicago Style Thin Crust Pizza

Written By Jimmy Wood

Pizza Dough should ferment for 4-7 days in the fridge

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

  • 365g high-gluten flour or bread flour if you can’t find it

  • 13g (4 teaspoons) cornmeal

  • 5g (1 1/4 teaspoons) sugar

  • 5g (1 teaspoon ) fine salt

  • 2g (1/2 teaspoon) instant yeast red label

  • 185g ice-cold water

  • 30g olive oil

The Process: Pizza Dough

  • Mix the dry ingredients together

  • Add water and oil

  • Combine for 1 minute

  • Cover let rest for 20 minutes

  • Kneed for 45 seconds

  • Divide into two equal dough balls

  • Lightly oil the dough balls

  • Place in deli containers with lid

  • Toss in the fridge for 4-7 days

  • The night before you want to cook, remove the dough containers from the fridge and let them warm to room temperature for 2 to 3 hours

  • On a flour’d working surface roll out the dough to a 14 inch round pizza

  • Dock on both sides with a fork - just poke it..

  • Place on parchment paper and keep in the fridge overnight uncovered

Pizza Sauce Ingredients:

  • 4 garlic cloves minced

  • 1 tbsp butter

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 3 tbsp tomato paste (get the squeeze tube)

  • 1 (14 oz) can peeled tomatoes with juice

  • 1 ½ tsp Marmite

  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

  • 1 ½ tsp sugar

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1 ½ tsp dried basil

  • 1 ½ tsp dried marjoram

  • 1 ½ tsp dried oregano

The Process: Sauce

  • Heat the butter and oil and fry the garlic until it just starts to take on color. 

  • Add the tomato paste, cook for 5 minutes.

  • Add the tomatoes (squishing with your hands) and juice and stir.

  • Add the Marmite, red wine vinegar, sugar, and salt, and simmer, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes.

  • Add the basil, marjoram, and oregano and cook for 5 minutes.

  • Blend the sauce with an immersion blender

Ingredients: For the pie (per pie)

  • 1 1/2 cup full-fat low-moisture mozzarella, shredded

  • 1/2 cup good Parmesan, processed fine

  • Giardiniera strained

The Process (About damn time!)

  • Get a 16” steel plate 3/8” thick or pizza stone place it in the oven

  • Preheat your oven as hot as you can 550 degrees F for 1 hour

  • Lightly dust a wooden peel with cornmeal

  • Turn the dough off of the paper directly onto the wooden peel

  • Spread the sauce thin across the pizza to the edges

  • Add half the Parmesan, the mozzarella, the sausage, the giardinera, and the other half of the Parmesan. 

  • Launch the pizza onto the steel and cook undisturbed for 8 minutes.

  • Cook for 8 minutes, check the bottom and make sure it’s crispy

  • Remove and let cool for a few minutes

  • Cut into 3 inch squares

    Enjoy!

Jimmy Wood