Chicago Tavern Style Pizza
Most people know about Chicago deep dish pizza, but fewer have heard of the thin crust variety that Chicagoans consider to be their actual native pizza.
With its ultra-thin and crispy crust, not only is the signature taste and texture of Chicago Tavern style pizza radically different to Italian style, but it comes with the added bonus of being much easier to prepare and cook.
Rather than being rolled by hand, the dough ball is flattened out with a rolling pin, before being ‘cured’ – a clever little trick where the base is left in the fridge for a minimum of 60 minutes – to help make the base extra crispy.
Cooked in your kitchen oven for best results and always cut into squares (never slices!), Chicago Tavern style IS Chicago pizza. So get your rolling pins at the ready and pick up a pack of Chicago Tavern style dough balls today. Your new favourite pizza is calling!
Buy NowPreparation & Cooking
Equipment Required
- Domestic oven
- A baking steel (for best results), pizza stone or solid baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Pizza peel
- Fine semolina or flour for dusting
Proving
For best results, place your dough ball in a proofing pot or a plastic food bag and leave to defrost in the fridge overnight or for up to 3 days, which will develop even more flavour. You will notice the dough ball gradually increasing in size.
Curing
On the day of, or the day before you’re ready to cook your pizza (see below), remove from the fridge and lightly flour the dough ball on both sides.
Flour the worktop and the dough and roll it out using the rolling pin to around 12” diameter.
Place the rolled-out dough onto a piece of parchment paper and cover it with another piece so it sits between the 2 sheets.
Leave the dough on the worksurface for approximately 3-4 hours, or alternatively place it in the fridge in the parchment for another 24 hours which will give even better results. This step is called ‘curing’ the dough and helps it dry out slightly to create an even better crunch to your pizza.
Cooking
When you want to cook your pizza, set the oven to around 240°C and heat up your baking steel or pizza stone in the oven for at least 30 minutes until it is very hot. Flour a worktop using the semolina or flour. Carefully remove the dough disc from the baking parchment and turn it over so that the dryer top side is touching the worktop, which will help the pizza crisp in the oven. If you’re using a pizza tray you can put your dough straight onto the tray and build your pizza on it before putting straight into the oven.
Generously apply pizza sauce, cheese and toppings to the pizza, spreading them right out to the edge (leaving very little if any crust) before using the pizza peel to slide it onto the baking steel or pizza stone in the oven.
Cook the pizza for 9-10 minutes and remove from the oven. Cut it into squares (never slices!) before serving.
Enjoy your Chicago Tavern style pizza and don’t forget to send us your photographs and tag us on social media. We love to see your creations.
