So Where Are You From? – Chicago Style Pizza

So Where Are You From? – Chicago Style Pizza

by Stacey Viera

Most of you already know this by now, but Samantha and Stacey are products of the Baltimore and Washington Beltways, respectively. And if you’re familiar with the D.C.-Baltimore region, you know that the first question out of a new acquaintance’s mouth is usually, “So where are you from?” because it often seems as if few residents are actually from the area.

Thus spurred the idea for our newest column, “So Where Are You From?” in which we teach you to make a Chicago-style pizza entirely from scratch. We must thank the brilliant minds in the test kitchen at Cooks Illustrated for the recipes. The marinara is now our go-to sauce recipe for much more than pizza!

Speaking of the sauce, here’s the recipe with a couple of modifications: heat 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add ¼ cup diced onion,  a few dashes of Italian Seasoning, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in one 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes and ¼ tsp. sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 2 ½ cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Off heat, stir in 1 Tbsp. olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

We’ve made this recipe twice and hardly modified it at all, except for the sauce. We’ve made it with mushroom, pepperoni, and even topped it with cooked chicken.  Creative pizza toppings are the simple way to add in more nutrients, especially if using extra veggies on top of a tomato sauce rich in lycopene (an antioxidant). Meat toppings can be heavy on the fat and sodium, so use sparingly.

So, dear reader, where are YOU from? What regional dish do you miss from home and would like to see on Every Food Fits?

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11 comments

  • I’m from Pittsburgh, how about a pierogie recipe? I will have to look, but I may have my photo project of Real Kilbassa from scracth. This will be a great series! Where you from?

  • Ironically, I am from Chicago, but live about 55 miles NW of the city now. While I prefer a crispy thin crust (gasp!) my husband loves deep dish – in fact I am making deep dish pizza tonight!

    I love Cook’s Illustrate/Cook’s Country/America’s Test Kitchen – so many great recipes!

  • Hey guys! Just found the site and it’s awesome! I was wondering though (maybe I’m just not seeing it)… But what’s the recipe for the Chicago-style crust?

    Thanks!!

    B

  • Love the column idea! So, I’m originally from NYC, but lived and fell in love in Chicago, so you can imagine how I feel about pizza. I admit to loving both, they’re so different but so good, it’s hard to say I prefer one over the other. And since I now live in SF, the things I look for when I go back home are knishes, bagels, good lox…oh the list goes on!

  • So glad that everyone is enjoying this post! You’ll love the pizza even more.

    Thanks for the great ideas, Chef Kiss and Liren!

    Brett – there’s a hyperlink in the post, but it was easy to miss: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=21349

    Enjoy the recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. We’d love to hear how you modify it to make it your own.

  • I lived in Chicago a short time, My favorite thing was a Chicago Italian Beef!
    Buffalo is famous for it’s wings (thanks Frank and Theresa @ The Anchor Bar) But they are also the home of Roast Beef on Kimmelwick with horseradish cream.
    Philly has it’s cheese steaks but did you know has you travel north through the Lehigh Valley the annatomy of the steak sandwich changes alot!
    Closer to here Baltomore’s Pitt Beef sammie, I just dicovered the latter and looking for the best!

    This is sooo awesome!

  • Awesome! I’m viewing from my iPhone and I think the original hyperlink wasn’t showing. Looking forward to trying it out!

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