Chicago-Style Deep Dish Uno's Pizza

By David J. Stewart

Born and raise in Chicago, I spent 37 years of my life there.  Bar none, the best pizza in Chicago (in my humble opinion) is Pizzeria Uno's (or Duo's, which is their other restaurant a block away).  Unfortunately, they don't ship where I now live, so I've been experimenting.  Here's my best attempt at recreating their delicious secret recipe.  My kids ask for this pizza often, which is what matters most to me.

Dough Recipe

  • 2 packages rapid rise dry yeast (store extra yeast in freezer)
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (corn oil)
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil (Extra Virgin Bertolli brand is the ONLY oil I use)
  • 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (grain bugs like cornmeal, so I store it in a gallon-sized plastic bag)
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour (plus an additional cup for working with the dough)

Microwave the water to warm it up.  Dissolve the yeast into the water.  Pour into large mixing bowl, adding the vegetable oil, olive oil, cornmeal, and the flour gradually.  Mix by hand as you add the remaining flour.  Knead for a couple minutes. Leave dough in covered bowl (I put a plate over the bowl) and allow to rise until doubled. Punch down and allow to rise again. Punch down a second time and you are ready to make pizza!

Coat your deep-dish pizza pans with Bertolli Extra Virgin olive oil. I usually make about 5 small pizzas, but you may want to make a couple large ones instead.  Place a handful of dough in the pan and push it out to the edges using your fingers. Put in enough dough so that you can run the crust right up the side of the pan. Make it about 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick throughout the pan.
 

Pizza Toppings

I make the pizza sauce topping for all pizzas at once in a big bowl. 

  • 10 14.5 ounce cans tomatoes.  I use a variety of tomato products here.  I usually mix a couple cans of Hunt's "fire-roasted" tomatoes with a 28 oz. can of crushed tomato puree, a couple cans of diced (drained) tomatoes, and a couple cans of whole-peeled tomatoes (which I break apart by hand). It's your preference.
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano (I've tried other recipes for Uno's pizza that use way too much oregano)
  • 1/4 teaspoon basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (if sauce seams sweet, add a little more salt; but be careful, too much salt ruins a recipe quick.  There's NO sugar in this recipe, but for some reason canned tomatoes seem to actually taste a bit sweet to me, so I gradually add a little salt until the sweetness is gone.  Taste your sauce as you go and adjust accordingly.  Oregano and salt are two ingredients you definitely don't want too much of.)
  • 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 4 cloves of garlic (I use a garlic press that crushes the garlic through little holes).
  • 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (stir it right into the sauce)
  • 6 tablespoons Bertolli Extra Virgin olive oil
  • 5 pounds sliced mozzarella cheese (I use a hand-held slicer. It cuts using a wire at the end. Hint: the cheese cuts very easy if you let it sit for about an hour.  The depth is adjustable.) 

Place the cheese in tile-like layers on the bottom of the pie (cut about 1/8 inch thick). Pour pizza sauce over cheese. Drizzle a little extra olive oil over the top of the pie and you are ready to bake.  When pizza is done, sprinkle a little extra permission cheese on top of pizza.

Bake the pie in a 475°F oven (400 if a convection oven) until the top is golden and gooey and the crust a light golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.

If you have any suggestions, or think you can come closer, drop me an e-mail.