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October 19, 2011: I ate at Pizzeria Uno for the first time in years, and found the experience completely underwhelming. I had a so-called "deep dish" pizza with mac and cheese, also deep-dish. After the past several months of eating mostly home-cooked meals in cast iron, the food I ate there simply could not compare, especially considering how much I paid for the meal. The "deep dish" pans used at Pizzeria Uno are seven-inch aluminum pans, clean on the inside. The outside is coated with a baked-on or burned-on seasoning that gives the pan a blackened look. The "deep dish" is perhaps two inches deep. The pizza crust tasted had a dry taste of flour, whereas the toppings were skimpy and light. The mac and cheese wasn't bad, though all through the meal the thought kept repeating in my head, "…even I could cook better than this!" I gave a standard tip to the waiter because he wasn't the one who'd cooked this; in fact, I doubt there was an actual cook at all in the restaurant. More likely, they just heat pre-made dishes delivered to them by the chain. If nothing else, this has made me determined to top Pizzeria Uno – no great feat, I'll admit – and produce a more satisfying deep-dish pizza.
After researching popular methods for making pizza in cast iron, here is the result. This dish requires about three hours' preparation time, though that includes two hours and fifteen minutes for your crust dough to rise.
This recipe is based upon these two Web pages:
Pans needed: A cast iron skillet, either 10 or 12 inches in diameter, plus a flat pan or pizza peel to prepare your dough. (An aluminum baking sheet will do.) (In January of 2012 I prepared this dish using the Lodge 14-inch cast iron pizza pan. I used exactly the same amount of ingredients…and the results were incredible!)
In a large mixing bowl, pour in 1 1/4 cups of lukewarm water. Mix together yeast, salt, sugar, corn oil, and olive oil with the water.
Mix in the flour thoroughly to create a dough. You only have to mix the dough for a few minutes; it does not require a long, tough kneading. The dough will be very wet and sticky, which is exactly how it is supposed to be. Cover the bowl with a cloth or towel, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
After an hour and 30 minutes, when there are approximately 45 minutes left before the dough is ready, place cast iron skillet or pan (with a diameter of 10 to 12 inches) in your oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. You don't have to grease or oil the pan in advance.
As the oven and iron pan are heating, prepare your ingredients. Have your pizza toppings ready to be added (mushrooms sliced, meats cooked and prepared if you use sausage, hamburg, chicken, or other meats as toppings). You'll want to be ready to quickly add your ingredients to the pizza while the pan is still hot.
When the oven and cast iron pan are at 500 degrees and the dough has risen for 2 hours and 15 minutes, it will be time to prepare your dough to go into the pan. Uncover the bowl and with your fists, gently punch down the dough to remove the gas. This is very easy, as you can see from this YouTube video on how to punch down pizza dough.
Put out a flat pan, baking sheet, or pizza peel, sprinkle it with about one tablespoon of corn meal (half the amount listed in the ingredients; set aside the other half to be used in a minute), and spread it around the surface with your hands. Add on a sprinkle of black pepper, to add spice to your pizza crust. Uncover the mixing bowl and pour (or dump) the dough directly onto the corn meal. Sprinkle the rest of the corn meal on top of the mound of dough, and add a little more pepper to the top. This will provide a drier surface on the dough and allow you to knead the dough and work at it with your hands. You only have to knead the dough for a couple of minutes or so, to help condense it and remove the extra gas from the dough. You don't have to shape the dough into a flat, round pizza shape. Just knead the dough into a rough shape. The resulting dough will be very spongy and moist – it will be far more thick than flat pizza dough. This dough will still rise in your pan when it cooks.
Use heavy gloves, oven mitts, or welding gloves to take the hot iron skillet out of the oven, and place it on your stovetop. Lift your baking sheet or pizza peel, and use a wooden spoon to pour (or dump) the dough directly into the cast iron pan. It will sizzle immediately when it hits the hot metal. Use a wide wooden spoon to spread the dough around the pan as best as you can, forming a depression in the center with which to put on your pizza toppings, while forcing the dough towards the edges of the pan. Don't worry if the dough doesn't reach the edges of your pan; it will expand to completely fill your pan as it cooks. (Be careful – the cast iron pan is very hot!) In this order, add your pizza toppings:
As you add on the ingredients and spread them out over the dough, the dough will settle and spread out across the hot pan.
With your heavy gloves or oven mitts, place the whole pizza into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. Remove from the oven and place the cast iron pan onto a trivet, cooling rack, or stovetop. Let the pizza cool off and settle for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Referrers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8qB0z2S_6M
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