I’ve always loved pizza, and in my quest to make pizza at home that tastes better than pizza I can buy, I purchased “American Pie” by Peter Reinhart. The book is an interesting read about Peter’s search around the globe for the perfect pizza (which, incidentally, he finds at Pizzaria Bianco in Phoenix), but it also contains recipes for every type of pizza crust imaginable. I tend to agree with Mr. Reinhart as I usually prefer thin, crispy crusts, ala Napoletana. But I though I’d try something different the other day, so I made his Chicago-style cornmeal deep dish crust in a 9 inch cake pan. It was the best pizza I’ve made at home so far. The cust wasn’t too dry, it was oozing with cheese, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni, and I could only eat a slice of it before I was full.
The nice thing about this crust is that, according to Reinhart, it doesn’t benefit from a night in the fridge, so you can make this one on relatively short notice (only about 3 hours of total rise time). I’m glad I made enough dough for 2 pies 