Pizza Time!

Chicago Style Pan Pizza (usually made in a LARGE round pan with a thicker crust)

2 cups water
¾ tsp yeast
1 tbs salt
7-8 cups flour
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup cornmeal

Toppings of choice

Dissolve yeast in warm water in bowl to mixer (if you don’t have electric mixer, that’s ok, but takes a lot of muscle). Add all other ingredients EXCEPT cornmeal. Mix on low and once in a ball, mix on high 2 to 3 minutes til smooth and elastic like. NOTE: I had to take the dough out & do on countertop by hand as my KA sounded like it was going to blow it’s motor. 8 cups is way too much dough & this stuff is DRY.

Place in bowl coated with olive oil, cover & let rest for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, dump dough out on counter and stretch out. This is not your typical dough. It’s tough. It’s heavy, not light & airy at all. Once patted out, sprinkle cornmeal on a large rimmed baking sheet. Place dough on sheet & form crust, carefully forming corners as you do.

Dress your baby. Add cheese FIRST, then your toppings & then your sauce (sauce is on top). Bake at 425 30 to 40 minutes til done. Let cool a bit before cutting (I removed mine from pan as I was using my BEST pan just in case the dough was going to try & stick).

This was the first time I made this dough. I was very very skeptical of it once it was kneaded. After 2 hours, told dh maybe I need to just make my normal dough as a backup. Boy was I surprised that it actually tasted ok. Whew.