Chicago Style Stuffed Spinach Pizza Recipes

SPINACH-STUFFED PIZZA

Steps:

• Place thawed dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, mix spinach, mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper. Punch down dough; divide into thirds. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 portion of dough to a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a 9-in. springform pan coated with cooking spray; press dough onto bottom and partway up sides of pan., Sprinkle 1 cup mozzarella cheese onto crust. Top with spinach mixture; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese., On a lightly floured surface, roll out a second portion of dough to a 10-in. circle; place over cheese layer. Pinch together top and bottom crusts to seal. (Save remaining dough for another use.) , Bake until crust is lightly browned, 25-30 minutes. Spread pizza sauce over top; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 5-6 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

CHICAGO-STYLE STUFFED PIZZA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add oil and salt. Add 1-1/2 cups flour and cornmeal; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down; let rest for 5 minutes. Divide into two portions, one slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger portion to a 12-in. circle. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 10-in. ovenproof skillet., Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, cook sausage, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, Parmesan cheese and oregano. Add to prepared crust. , On a lightly floured surface, roll remaining dough into an 11-in. circle. Place over pizza; seal edges. Cut four slits in top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Spread with tomato sauce.

CHICAGO DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Pour water into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sprinkle in yeast and let dissolve, about 10 minutes. Add olive oil, melted butter, sugar, salt, cornmeal, and most of the flour. Knead, stopping to scrape down the sides occasionally and adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic.
• Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead in extra flour if needed. Roll into a ball and place in a bowl greased with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Cover with a plate and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, let pizza sauce simmer in a pot over low heat until very thick, 60 to 90 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Poke dough to deflate and turn out onto your work surface. Press and stretch out dough into a round shape 3 to 4 inches larger than a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Brush skillet with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil. Place dough in the skillet; stretch and pull to evenly distribute it over the bottom and sides.
• Lay provolone cheese over the bottom of the crust. Scatter fresh mozzarella on top. Add Italian sausage and firm mozzarella. Ladle pizza sauce generously on top. Grate Parmesan cheese on top. Fold the edges of the crust in towards the center to seal in the sides. Drizzle crust and center with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Bake in the center of the preheated oven until crust sounds hollow and pizza is beautifully browned, about 35 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

CHICAGO STYLE STUFFED PIZZA

Steps:

• To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve sugar in 1 cup warm water; in a separate small bowl combine the yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water. Mix together and let rest in bowl for about 20 minutes, until foamy.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix together remaining 2 1/2 cups flour with cornmeal and salt; remove half of this mixture from bowl and stir 1 cup sugar water into bowl. When well mixed, return second half of flour/cornmeal mixture to bowl and mix all together; then stir in yeast mixture. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 12 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in volume.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). To Make Stuffing: In a large bowl combine the sausage, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepperoni, onion, bell pepper, oregano and garlic. Mix well.
• Press half of the dough in the bottom and up the sides of a lightly greased deep dish pan. Bake crust in preheated oven for 4 minutes, then add the stuffing mixture to the bottom crust and cover with top crust; seal edges together with fingers, and trim excess. Slit top crust to allow steam to vent during baking; top with tomato sauce.
• Bake on lower rack at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut and serve.

CHICAGO-STYLE STUFFED SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• Crust: dissolve yeast and sugar in water in a large bowl; let stand until bubbly; stir in oil then stir in 4 cups of the flour until smooth; add additional flour as needed to form a stiff dough.
• Lightly flour the work surface; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 7 to 10 minutes; put into a greased bowl; turn to coat top then let rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Sauce: heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; add garlic, cook 2 minutes; stir in tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper; simmer until very thick, about 30 minutes or so.
• Filling: mix spinach, mozzarella, mushrooms, parmesan, romano, garlic, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
• Heat oven to 450°.
• Punch down dough; let rest 10 minutes.
• Lightly oil a 12-inch pizza pan that is at least 2" deep.
• Roll two-thirds of dough into a 16-inch circle; let sides overhang the pan.
• Put the spinach mixture into center of dough; smooth evenly over the surface.
• Roll the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; place over the spinach filling then pinch the edges together and cut excess dough at the edges so that the bottom dough is level with the top crust.
• Pour sauce over the dough to cover.
• Bake until crust is golden, 20-40 minutes.
• Let stand 10 minutes before slicing into wedges for serving.
• Ice cold beer or root beer is great with this pizza.

EASY CHICAGO STYLE SPINACH PIZZA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 500 degrees F.
• Press crust onto bottom and sides of well greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
• Mix spinach, mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan and spread it evenly over crust.
• Mix tomatoes, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes, and spread it over the cheese mixture.
• Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
• Bake 10 minutes at 500, then reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 20 minutes.