Tony’s Take on The Malnati Chicago Classic at Lou Malnati’s

Step by step

1. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, yeast, sugar, and 1 teaspoon sea salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water, 2 tablespoons corn oil, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix until no dry flour remains, then knead on the counter for 4–5 minutes. Stop when the dough is smooth but still supple; excessive kneading builds too much elasticity and makes a deep-dish crust fight you during shaping.
2. Form the dough into a ball and place it back in the lightly cleaned bowl. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 75–90 minutes, until roughly doubled. This moderate rise builds flavor while keeping enough strength to support the heavy filling.
3. Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes in a fine-mesh sieve for 10 minutes. Crush them by hand into rough pieces, then combine them with the oregano, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, and black pepper. Do not cook the sauce first: drained tomatoes will reduce in the oven without concentrating into a heavy paste.
4. Set an oven rack in the lower third. Place a rimmed baking sheet upside down on the rack and preheat the oven to 425°F for at least 30 minutes. The hot metal acts like a simple baking deck, driving heat into the pizza pan before the wet filling can soften the bottom crust.
5. Coat the bottom and sides of a 12-inch, 2-inch-deep round cake pan or deep-dish pizza pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon corn oil and 1 tablespoon softened butter. Press the risen dough across the bottom and about 1 1/2 inches up the sides. If it springs back, leave it alone for 5 minutes so the gluten relaxes, then finish shaping.
6. Cover the dough bottom with the sliced mozzarella, overlapping slightly and keeping the cheese inside the raised edge. Flatten the sausage into thin pieces and arrange them over the cheese in a nearly continuous layer, about 1/4 inch thick. Thin, even sausage cooks safely before the crust overbrowns and avoids dense, undercooked clumps.
7. Spread the drained tomato mixture evenly over the sausage and sprinkle with Parmesan. The crust is the vessel and the tomato layer anchors the Parmesan, so the cheeses melt into the pizza rather than baking as an unsupported oily cap.
8. Set the pizza pan directly on the preheated baking sheet. Bake for 35–45 minutes, rotating once after 25 minutes, until the crust is deeply golden, the sauce is bubbling across the center, and the sausage reaches at least 160°F in several spots. If the rim browns too quickly, loosely shield only the edge with foil.
9. Rest the pizza in the pan for 10 minutes so the cheese and rendered sausage juices settle. Run a thin spatula around the edge, lift the pizza onto a board if practical, and cut into 8 wedges with a sturdy knife. Serve 2 wedges per person while the crust is crisp and the filling is hot. DUNZO!