By J. Kenji López-Alt
- Total Time
- 35 minutes, plus at least 3½ hours for the dough
- Rating
- 4(442)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Tavern-style pizza is not particularly difficult compared with other styles, but it does take a good amount of time from start to finish — several days in fact — but it’s largely hands-off. And, on the actual day of baking, you don’t have to deal with stretching or tossing dough, making it perfect for parties or for topping with kids.
This recipe is part of our complete recipe for a Chicago thin-crust pizza. View the recipes for the dough, Chicago-style Italian sausage and accompanying sauce.
Featured in: Kenji López-Alt Spent 5 Months Studying Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza. Here’s What He Learned.
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Ingredients
Yield:2 (14-inch) pizzas
- ¾cup mild or hot giardiniera (see Tips)
- Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting
- 1stretched, cured Chicago thin-crust (tavern-style) pizza dough skin
- ¾ to 1cup pizza sauce for Chicago thin-crust, more or less to taste, or use store-bought pizza sauce
- 2ounces finely shredded or powdered Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
- 8 to 12ounces full-fat low-moisture mozzarella, shredded, more or less to taste (see Tips)
- ½recipe (about 8 ounces) Chicago-style Italian sausage, or use store-bought (raw bulk sausage or raw cased sausage with casings removed)
For Each Pizza
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
At least 45 minutes before baking, set a baking steel or stone (larger than 14 inches, see Tips) on an oven rack in the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain excess oil from the giardiniera in a fine-mesh strainer, tossing to get as much off as possible. Discard the oil and set aside the giardiniera.
Step
2
When the oven is heated and you’re ready to bake, dust a pizza peel with semolina or cornmeal. Lift cured pizza skin with the parchment or butcher paper still attached. The top (exposed) side will be drier than the underside. Place the pizza skin on the peel with the drier side facing down (so the papered side faces up). Peel off the parchment paper or butcher paper and discard. Using a fork, poke the crust all over to prevent large bubbles from forming.
Step
3
Spread the sauce evenly over the entire surface of the pizza, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with half the Romano or Parmesan. Spread the mozzarella evenly over the entire surface, spreading it all the way to the edges. Use your fingertips to dollop marble-size pieces of the raw sausage all over the pizza. Sprinkle with the giardiniera.
Step
4
Give the pizza peel a few shakes to make sure the pizza is still loose (if it sticks at all, using a metal spatula or pizza peel to loosen it), then transfer the pizza to the heated baking steel or stone. Bake until the pizza is as done as you like it. (If you like yours browned and bubbly in the center and lightly charred at the edges, that’ll be about 10 minutes, depending on your oven.) You can use a metal pizza peel to lift the edges of the pizza and peek underneath as it bakes to ensure the bottom is done to your liking.
Step
5
Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and sprinkle immediately with the remaining Romano or Parmesan. Allow to rest for 3 minutes, cut into 1½- to 2-inch squares, and serve immediately. Let the oven reheat for at least 10 minutes before baking subsequent pizzas.
Tips
- This style of pizza works best with minimal toppings–two to three items max. Sausage and giardiniera is a classic combination in the Chicago area. I like using J.P. Graziano hot giardiniera, which is available by mail order.
- Do not use Italian-style (fresh) mozzarella for this pizza. If you cannot find full-fat low-moisture mozzarella, use a combination of widely available part-skim low-moisture mozzarella and shredded Monterey Jack. The cheeses will melt better if you grate them yourself, but pre-shredded can be used in a pinch.
- If you do not have a baking stone or steel at least 14 inches square, 12-inch pizzas can also be baked on smaller stones or on the back of a large overturned aluminum sheet tray set on an oven rack while the oven heats. Follow the recipe for 12-inch pizza dough balls as outlined in the Tip for the Chicago thin-crust (tavern-style) pizza dough.
Ratings
4
out of 5
442
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Cooking Notes
Dale
Spectacular!Indeed, I think it is way past time to categorize Pizzas by some town or city name. As he points out, the mistaken idea that Chicago is deep dish is found to be immediately wrong when you actually eat a few from around town.The hints he has are a nice collection and summary, making a pizza very much like a unique one found in the upper midwest at a few places in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Upper Michigan.Bravo for the tips. They all make a difference. Nicely written article.
Kate
Thrilled to see this - the pizza I had growing up in the Chicago burbs. Always square cut. But giardiniera is for Italian beef!! We ordered our pizza “garbage style” - sausage as here, plus onion, artichoke, green pepper, mushroom, black olive, and anchovy. I know Kenji says 2-3 toppings max but this combo was SO good.
BDW
This was a fantastic pizza. 5 out of 5, absolutely delicious.However, cooking raw sausage in a 500 degree oven is a stinky mess. I'm not one to shy away from messes in the kitchen, especially if the resulting dish is delicious, but I will be cooking the sausage before putting it on the pizza from now on. We have an oversize kitchen hood that vents outside, and that couldn't keep up. Both the pizza steel and the oven had to be scrubbed, and the house still smells of burnt grease the next day.
Martha
Could you use Muffaletta condiment? It’s finely chopped Giardiniera mixed with garlic, capers and olives and olive oil.
Tony Adams
When we see the word "discard" in a recipe, this is a moment to be skeptical. In this case, the oil from giardiniera is a deliciously flavored oil. Drain the giardiniera so that the oil flows back into the jar and use it for cooking or making dressings.
Flavorguy
Similar problem - my solution - stuck the skins, overnight, in my unheated oven. I skin on each rack...
MRose
I wish that Kenji had gone one step further, and researched the 'special' cheese blend that would have made this St.Louis/Imo's style pizza, a legend for those who know.
Rick
Don't skip draining the giardiniera oil - you want it as dry as possible. I made pizza once by just spooning the sopping condiment right on top and the final product was absolutely swimming in oil.
Lonnie Mando
Get a pizza peel
Patrick Baikauskas
My mother, Giuseppina Capriotti, made the best pizza and always from scratch and very much like this. She always cut it in squares. We didn’t call it bar style. And she cut it with “the big scissors.” Never a knife or roller. Logically I know it couldn’t change the taste, but….
Guy in Atlanta
Great recipe! We baked the pizzas around 6:30 PM so I rolled the dough at 10:00 AM; cooked the sausage ahead and drained on paper towels. In my oven on the “Stone” setting I baked them until the crust got golden brown, about 7 minutes. Our new go-to recipe now for thin-crust pizza. Thanks!
Jeff K
Use a pizza steel not a stone. The steel does not lose heat when you put the cold dough and toppings on it like the stone does. You will not believe the difference until you pull it out of the oven. The steel can be used on the stove top too. The steel will lift your pancakes to fluffy heaven.
Patrick T
Terrific recipe and very forgiving.
Smoke Alert!
I used a cast iron pizza pan. Be careful putting your cheese too close to the edge. It will run off, burn, and create quite a bit of smoke! Luckily, I saw a previous warning (thanks) and removed my fire alarm ahead of time. The second one I made, I took the sauce to the edge, but left a border for the cheese, and there was much less smoke. I still had a small runoff of cheese or there wouldn't have been much of any. Fantastic pizza and worth all the work.
J0sephus
No Giardinera so used Eggplant and Pepper slices in olive oil and it was delicious
stewzky
This recipe nails the tavern style cracker crust. I am blown away by how exact of a replica this recipe created. Toppings are flexible, it’s pizza.
Gwen
Just wanted to share if you use a baking steel where the shorter end is exactly 14 inches, I found it helpful to have a layer of foil under the steel and continuing to the back of the oven, and even up the back of the oven a bit. Then as toppings melt/slide off a little as you are taking the pizza out, you can use a scraper to push the debris over to the foil and keep cooking. Makes continuous pizza-making easier and less mess.
gwen
This was a spectacular recipe. I’m from Milwaukee, so this tasted like home to me. Made 4 days ahead, rolled out morning of since I live in Arizona, and I found by dinner time the dough matched the consistency in Kenji’s YouTube video of this recipe. Used a baking steel. Everyone loved this sausage and the sauce. Also works great with cupping pepperoni. Super thin and crisp crust, holds up well. I found 8 oz cheese was plenty for one pie if you don’t want to buy more than a pound.
Seymour
Can you store unused pizza skins?
Tom (a retired chef)
Great tips for making pizza like I grew up eating downstate in Springfield and can't find around the SF Bay area. The closest I've found here is Papa Murphy's take'n bake. I prefer a crisp crust with a little give rather than cracker crisp but that's an easy adjustment with this dough
Tom (a retired chef)
...I baked these on a stone in a gas grill and they turned out perfectly
Tom (Down the Shore)
Pizza skin? Is that what it’s called in Chicago?
Biz
A last minute change required that the pizzas be baked on a griddle style grill. After the long ferment and curing process I decided to go ahead and try rather than try to hold the crusts any longer. I was unsure that the sausage would cook through so I pre-cooked that first.The result was fantastic. Having a thin crust meant the pizza was cooked to crisp perfection. The cheese melted but did not brown. Had I thought to bring my little kitchen torch, I could have taken care it on the spot.
Kevin Spier
I have made this twice. The first time was good, but the crust was a bit chewy and the second crust, that I froze, shattered while thawing. The one we had was good though. The second time went very well. I let the dough dry longer (the first one I just dried the morning of) and the crust turned out great. One pizza I did sausage and pepperoni and the second one I did mushrooms (which I sauteed with fresh oregano) and prosciutto, topped after it came out of the oven with arugula. It was great.
Ron
I have started using parchment paper to bake on saving on cleanup. It also comes in handy when baking more than one pie, You can start building the next pie on the parchment while the previous pie is baking and your pizza peel will be available. A certain big box outlet sells a wider parchment which works well.
JL
This pizza was a hit at my house. It will be my go to home pizza. Plan on starting 7 days ahead. Make the dough on a Sunday. Let it rest in the fridge for the week. Roll out the dough Friday and it's ready to go Saturday evening. I recommend his online video for a full a visual run through with helpful tips. Thank you JKLA for all the time and effort you put into this.
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