The Undisputed Deep Dish Pizza Champion Of The World

 

The town of Platteville, Wisconsin, located about 25 miles NW of Dubuque, Iowa is home to the University of Wisconsin - Platteville, about 12,500 permanent residents and roughly that again in students, and the greatest deep dish pizza in the world.

Pizzeria Uno in Platteville has been serving up these pies since opening in 1976 and has a distant connection with the Chicago-based chain of the same name, but is wholly independent and has their own twist on the deep dish style that sets it apart and above all others.   It is one of those rare institutions which has not changed very much at all over the course of many decades.   Their wise choice in keeping up with the times was in buying up an adjacent building and turning it into 'The Annex" and in adding an outdoor bar as well.  The original place is nearly unchanged since my college days ended in the mid 1980's.   And the pizza...well it hasn't changed one bit.  Thankfully.

I have been on a quest to re-create the Platteville Uno's Deluxe, A La Mode with Wheat Crust since the mid-80's at home, and was mildly successful at it until I discovered the Real Deep Dish website, which unlocks several secrets of making a good deep dish pie.   That, combined with my personal research and a few tips, has enabled me to reach the point of about 98% success in recreating my all time favorite 'za.

And now, dear Reader, I pass that on to you.   You will need a 14" deep dish pan (about $20 on Amazon or check your local kitchen gadget specialist), a fine mesh strainer, some aluminum foil and some patience.   A stand mixer helps but is not necessary.  All the other ingredients are available at most grocery outlets.

Ingredients for a 14" "Uno's Deluxe":

Crust:

1/2 C Wheat Flour

1 C Semolina Flour

2 C All Purpose Flour

1/3 C Olive Oil

1/2 TBSP Yeast

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Sugar

8 oz. beer, heated to about 100 degrees, no more.

Fillings:

1 large can Crushed Tomatoes 28oz, strained

Basil

Garlic Salt

8 oz package Provolone cheese slices

8 oz Mozzarella block, grated

Fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 Green Pepper, sliced thinly

1 smallish Onion, diced

Pepperoni, sliced

1/2 lb. Italian Sausage (I like fennel, so I add fennel to mine), added to pizza in little chunks

Green Olives, sliced

Time:  About 3.5 hours total

More Notes:  If you don't want the wheat crust, just substitute 1/2 cup all purpose flour for the 1/2 cup of wheat flour.  You can also make this crust with water instead of beer, but then you're making a Chicago Deep Dish, not a Platteville one.   Omit the mozzarella on top if you want a true Chicago style pie, the cheese on top is "A La Mode", a Platteville Uno's specialty.  Put any toppings on that you like, but this is the recipe for a Platteville Uno's Deluxe.

Start by adding the beer, yeast and sugar into a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.  Give a gentle little stir to get things going and wait about 5 minutes or so, til the yeast starts bubbling and there's a foamy head across the top.

Add 1 cup of all purpose flour, the oil and salt.  Mix together to form a batter-like solution.  Slowly add the rest of the flours.  Don't knead this a ton, and on the stand mixer you just want to run it on a slow speed with the dough hook til a ball forms...no more.  If it's a little shaggy, that's fine.  If doing it by hand, just so that the dough is well-mixed and forms a ball nicely.

Line the bowl with olive oil and rub some on the outside of the dough ball, put the ball in the bowl again and cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set in a warm place.  This should be done at LEAST two hours before pizza making time.

When you're done with the dough, open the can of crushed tomatoes and dump into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl.  Let strain for an hour, giving it a little shake now and again, to remove as much tomato juice as possible.   When strained, stir in a little garlic salt and basil.

Take one of the upper racks out of your oven and completely cover it in aluminum foil, put back in the oven at about the 2/3rds position.  Two rack spaces below, put an uncovered rack.   

About 45 minutes before pizza baking time, turn your oven on to 500 degrees.  Let that thing heat up, good and hot!   While that's happening, brush your pizza pan with olive oil, place the dough in the center and start working it toward the edges.  When you get to the edges, press up the sides so that the dough is paper-thin on the sides and the bottom is evenly thick.   

Next take the provolone slices of cheese and, starting in the center, arrange them so the entire bottom of the crust is covered in provolone.  Then add your meats, mushrooms, onions, green pepper, olives.  Over the top of all of this, cover with sauce.

Turn your oven down to 450.  Put the pie in the oven on the rack below the one covered with aluminum foil.  Set the timer for 20 minutes and bake.

When the timer goes off, remove quickly from oven, cover with shredded mozzarella, put back in the oven for another 20 minutes.  You may want to check on it at 15 minutes, ovens vary.  Remove when the cheese starts to brown in spots.

Cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing.  This pizza type is best served in pie slices, you'll end up with a mess if you try to do squares.

Enjoy!!!  

Incredible Scalloped Potatoes

I'm not a big Scalloped Potatoes fan, or at least I wasn't.   But lately, I've craved some old-timey dishes that my mom and grandma used to make.   Scalloped Potatoes is one of those kind of dishes.

A few years before my mom passed away, while she was more or less confined to her chair, she asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  Since we were all going to try to make as many gifts for each other instead of buying them, I asked if she'd write her favorite recipes down for me.   It was and is a wonderful gift that I use all of the time, this box of my mom's treasured recipes, but unfortunately it doesn't contain a recipe for Scalloped Potatoes.   So....I went searching.

And as often is the case, I'll find several recipes that aren't quite what I have in mind.  I'll take the parts that I like from each and create my own hybrid recipe.   Usually, it turns out.  Sometimes it doesn't.  And sometimes, it's an enormous hit, as in the case of the recipe I post below.   Seriously, this is like pizza, it's so good.   There aren't any pictures, because the dish didn't last long enough to take any!  And it's the perfect dish to use up leftover ham with.

The key to this one is slicing the potatoes and onions thin.   The thicker they are, the more chance that they won't be 'done' in the allotted bake time.

You'll need:

9 x 9 Pyrex dish

4 T Butter
2 T Flour
1.5 C Milk
2 medium Onions sliced thin
4 reasonably sized Potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
12 oz. Ham, sliced, then diced
Grated Cheddar (or experiment! I bet Swiss would be incredible)

Preheat oven to 350.   Grease the 9 x 9 Pyrex dish.

Slice onions and potatoes, slice and dice ham, grate cheese (if you haven't already).

In a saucepan, melt 2 T of Butter, whisk in 2 T of Flour til a roux is formed.   Remove from heat, add milk, whisk in til the roux is completely mixed in with the milk.  Return to medium heat and stir often til it thickens.   Season with salt and pepper, remove from heat and set aside.

In a fry pan, add 2 T Butter and the Sliced Onions.  Cover on medium heat, stir occasionally, cook til soft and golden, starting to carmelize.   Remove from heat.

In the Pyrex 9 x 9, assemble two layers thusly.   First, half the white sauce, then half of the potato slices, then on top of that, ham, onions, grated cheese.  Repeat for the second layer.

Bake 350 for about 50 minutes.