Chicago-style Pizza

Chicago-style pizza is pizza prepared in a variety of forms created in Chicago, and is sometimes referred to simply as deep dish pizza due to its cooking manner. The baking pan gives the pizza its distinctively high edge, allowing for plenty of room for lots of cheese and a chunky tomato sauce. Deep-dish pizza and filled pizza are both options for Chicago-style pizza.

The first pizza was invented in Naples, but the City of Big Shoulders (and even bigger pies) invented the deep dish. According to history, in 1943, a visionary called Ike Sewell launched Uno's Pizzeria in Chicago with the concept that if made robust enough, pizza, which had previously been regarded as a snack, could now be consumed as a meal.

Whether he or his original chef Rudy Malnati invented it, one of those patron saints of pizza heaped it high, stuffing a large buttery dough with loads of meat, mozzarella, tomato chunks, and authentic Italian seasonings. Thin-crust pizza baked in a brick oven has its place, but if you crave crust, nothing beats Chicago-style.