Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Cooked in a Cast Iron Skillet

It’s been a while since I’ve done a deep dish pie.  I’ve been loving the Blackstone Pizza/Patio Oven so much I haven’t revisited this pizza style, but a few weeks ago, felt it was time to cook up one of these savory, rich, and hearty pies, especially with the fall weather upon us.

This time, I found a respected source for an authentic style Chicago style pizza dough, at RealDeepDish.com, which you can see here:

The difference between “pan style” pizza vs Chicago deep dish is the high amount of oil in the Chicago style crust, which renders a very flaky, almost buttery crust. I followed the recipe to the letter. In addition, the sequence of toppings and sauce is totally different, with cheese on the bottom, then followed by toppings, then finally, the sauce. The only difference is I cooked the pizza on the grill, and using a cast iron skillet, and added a bit of grated mozzarella on top.

So let’s get started!

We made the dough as prescribed, along with my own homemade sauce, and let the dough sit covered tightly for about two hours. While we did this, we served our local kids treats and tricks.

When the last of the trick or treaters left, we  started working on pizza construction.

I also fired up a full chimney of coals, and while those lit, cooked up some spicy Italian sausage:

Dough fully formed to pan:

Now the first layer of cheese – sliced provolone:

A layer of mozzarella:

Now the sausage:

Pepperoni:

And sauce:

Typically, the sauce is then topped with grated parmesan, but I added a bit of mozzarella as well to give the top a firmer texture:

Kingsford Oval ready for action with coals banked on each side:

And on goes the pie!

About 15 minutes later:

I pulled the pizza when it had cooked a total of 35 minutes, and then let it rest. The filling of the pie was so molten, I could literally see it “jiggle” as I brought the pie in. I then let it rest for 10 minutes.

Out of the cast iron skillet:

Now sliced:

And here’s a close up, complete with steam coming out of the top:

So how was it? Well, it was pretty fantastic! Talk about a perfect blend of gooey, cheesy savory goodness. The crust was more pastry like, which is to be expected. I may experiment with a hybrid crust next time that is more like a regular pizza with a bit less oil so the dough is more breadlike, but overall, it was just delicious.