Stuffed Crust Pizza - Chicago Style

The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno, in Chicago, reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, a former University of Texas football star.

The pizza starts with a simple, thick layer of dough (made with olive oil and cornmeal) that is laid into a deep round pan and pulled up the sides, then parbaked before the toppings are added to give it greater spring; the pan is generally oiled heavily in order to create a fried effect on the outside of the crust. The crust is covered with cheese (generally sliced mozarella) and covered with meats and/or vegetables such as Italian sausage (a Chicago staple), onions, and bell peppers. A sauce, usually uncooked, of crushed or pureed tomatoes is then added. Typically this is finished with a grated cheese blend. On the usual pizza, about a pound of cheese is used.[citation needed] Deep-dish pizza is usually eaten with a knife and fork, since its thick gooeyness makes a slice of pizza larger than eight or ten inches messy to eat with the fingers.

Besides Uno, famous deep-dish restaurants include Uno's companion restaurant Due, which was opened just down the block by Sewell in 1955. However, a year before, in 1954, The Original Gino's Pizza, located on Rush Street, opened its doors, and 12 years later in 1966, Gino's East opened. Other deep dish restaurants include Edwardo's, Connie's, Giordano's, Carmen's, Pizano's (which is owned by Rudy Malnati's son, Rudy Jr.), and Lou Malnati's (which was begun by another of Rudy Malnati's sons and is now run by his grandsons and has 26 Chicago area locations).

Chicago deep-dish pizza is famous throughout the world. Accordingly, many Chicago deep-dish pizza restaurants will ship their pizzas, partially baked, within the continental U.S.

In the mid-1970s, two pizza chains, Nancy's, founded by Rocco Palese, and Giordano's began experimenting with deep dish pizza and created the stuffed pizza. Palese based his creation on his mother's recipe for scarciedda, an Italian Easter pie from his hometown of Potenza. A Chicago Magazine article featuring Giordano's stuffed pizza popularized the dish.[citation needed] Other pizzerias that make stuffed pizzas include Bacino's, Edwardo's and Carmen's. Most also make thin crust pizzas.

Stuffed pizzas are often even taller than deep-dish pizzas, but otherwise, it can be hard to see the difference until you cut into it. A stuffed pizza generally has much higher topping density than any other type of pizza. As with deep dish pizza, a thin layer of dough forms a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the bottom crust.

Renton Pizza specializes in deep dish pies, so check out our menu and get a carryout or delivery today. There are plenty of toppings to choose from: pepperoni, olive, sausage, peppers, mushrooms and much more. Order a specialty pizza from Renton Pizza today!