Donate to No Kid Hungry here: https://p2p.onecause.com/livestreamfornokidhungry/kenji-alt-lopez
Get my books (including The Food Lab and my new book, The Wok) here: https://www.kenjilopezalt.com
You can find the links to all of the recipes (dough, sauce, sausage, and finished pizza) as well as my full New York Times article about researching the recipe at my linktree here. For now they are paywall free, but I don’t control it so I’m not sure how long they’ll be free: https://linktr.ee/kenjilopezalt
You can get the beat Chicago style giardiniera from J.P. Graziano, here: https://jpgraziano.com/
Very basic dough recipe:
For two 14-inch pizzas (for 12-inch pizzas reduce everything by 25%):
300g Bread Flour (I use King Arthur)
7.5g salt
7.5g sugar
1.5g yeast
30g vegetable, corn, canola, or light olive oil
150g water
1. Combine the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a stand mixer. Stir together, then add the oil and water. Mix together by hand or with the dough hook until a shaggy ball is formed. Cover the bowl loosely and let it rest for 10 minutes. Knead by hand or with a dough hook until the dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into two equal balls and coat them lightly with oil. Transfer to quart-sized lidded deli containers or gallon-sized zipperlock bags. Refrigerate for 3 to 5 days.
3. The day before baking, take a ball of dough out of the fridge and coat it lightly in semolina flour. Roll with a rolling pin to a 14-inch circle. Dust with more semolina as necessary to keep it from sticking. After rolling both balls out, transfer them to a parchment-lined cutting board or counter and let them rest, uncovered overnight.
To bake the pizzas:
You’ll need about 2 cups of pizza sauce (your own or store-bought), a pound of low-moisture mozzarella cheese (full fat grate-it-yourself if you can, part-skim pre-grated if you can’t), and toppings as desired. I usually use a half pound of Italian sausage applied raw in little bits all over the pie, a sprinkle of dried Italian seasoning and romano cheese, and some drained hot Chicago-style giardiniera.
Preheat a baking stone or steel to 500°F. Transfer one disk of dough to a pizza peel with the dryer side (the side that was facing up) down. Top with sauce and cheese to the edges. Add toppings. Transfer to the stone and bake until it’s crispy and browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, let it rest so you don’t burn your mouth, cut into squares, and serve (or eat it all yourself).
Look Kenji, the olive oil is literally there. All you need to do is oil up those feet of yours and boom, extra content on one of the most significant tutorials you will have ever made!
Have you tried any of the plant based pork minces for making the sausage? I'd be unsure if they'd render flavour the same way you mentioned.
Hugely appreciate these videos Kenji, they feel like a master class rather than a recipe
Can you make a pizza using a wok?
You aren’t making the tomato soup dish that’s all that I need to be happy. When I’m drunk and I fall asleep on the pizza I don’t want to drown
after curing, what do you think the salt percentage ends up being? I assume it’s greater than 2.5%. Have you considered putting a 14 inch mark on your rolling pin?
I will watch literally anything you put out regardless of how it is shot, but I do prefer the head cam since it shows me what your hands are actually doing and I can replicate it easier. Keep it up Kenji!
Kenji like the new angle, but PLEASE can you buy one of these
https://rode.com/en/microphones/mobile/videomic-me-l
It would take the entire video up to the next level, you've never needed it before as you were close to your phone, but the added distance from your phone necessitates a little "extra" help with the audio.
The dough base looks a lot like tarte flambée to me. Where I live (not far from France), you can buy something very close to the pizza base ready-made from the store, if you're in a hurry and prefer to skip the dough part.
Love this guy
one of his better videos. i had no idea thats how that style of dough was made.
Up in Middle/Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota we have a few mom and pop chains of pizza restaurants whom serve this style. I worked at one for a year back in High School! Glad to have you do a episode on it, looked fantastic and authentic!
Long time no talk-vid, Kenji!!
Nice new filming style!!
That square-cut reminds me of okonomi-yaki .
living in the midwest i have multiple places in my town that makes this style of pizza exclusively, never cared for it personally but always interesting to hear some history and how its made at home. thanks for the videos Kenji
Having been born and raised on the far [109th Torrence ave] south side of Chicago, I appreciate your time and wonderfully delicious Pizza ???? ????! It made me nostalgic for Bob n Jack's Pizza on 103rd and Ewing ave…lol just delicious sausage chunks on that beautiful thin crust! I always preferred all the "center square" pieces lol, everyone else loved the edges! Thanks again ☺️ for sharing this!
People who've cooked with steels like that, how long between pizzas should you wait before putting another in?
Thank you for a great recipe. I grew up in the Chicago area and thought all pizza was like this until I moved away.
Holy crap, a 30 minute video about making pizza? This is a long one. Gonna need a snack to get through this. Better make myself a pizza.