Chicago Style Thin-Crust Sausage and Onion Pizza

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These days, the Friday night dinner decision is an easy one. It is PIZZA NIGHT!! The dilemma is trying to figure out which one. Oh, the problems we have. When I ask my husband what kind he would like, he just gives me that look that says, You know which one. Then I ask him what toppings he would like, and he rolls his eyes. That response only means a Chicago-style thin-crust pizza with sausage and onion. I have other topping variations, but this is our hands down favorite. Of course, you can certainly make it a simple cheese pizza. You know what I say. Make it for you; make it your own.

Unlike a doughy or deep-dish Chicago pizza, this one has a thin, crisp crust with a simple, no-cook tomato sauce. The easy part about the recipe is the dough (which is made in a food processor), and the sauce can be made in advance.

The Dough:

It is made in the food processor, but it can be made by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. 

• If using a food processor, use the dough blade and use cold water to prevent the dough from overheating. 
• If making the dough by hand or in a stand mixer, use room temperature water, about 70° F.  
• If making the pizza the same day, allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. After the dough is kneaded, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Just bring it to room temperature 2 hours before baking.

The Sauce

It is a simple, no-cook sauce of tomato sauce, tomato paste, a bit of sugar, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds.  There is only 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, so I do not feel the need to toast or crush the fennel seeds, especially because the sausage that I use already has fennel in it. I like to crush the Italian seasoning between my hands to release more flavor. I find it really makes a difference. And like the dough, the sauce can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to two days.

The Sausage

I am picky about my Italian sausage and only use Randolph Market Italian sausage, which I find at my local Sunset Foods Market. It has just the right balance of all the flavors, and I can get it mild or hot. But any Italian sausage to your liking can be used. 

The Onion

I use half of a small sweet onion, like Vidalia or Walla-Walla. I thinly slice the onion from pole to pole and then slice again against the grain for smaller slices. It doesn't take much onion for me, but use as much or as little as you like. One tip is to soak the onion in cold water to take away some of the raw onion bite (just make sure to dry the onion thoroughly before using).  Any leftover onion, use it to make Sweet Onion Cheddar Spread. Don't like onion? Just omit it.

The Cheese

Use a good quality whole-milk mozzarella and grate it yourself if at all possible.  I cannot stress that enough. Packaged pre-shredded cheese has stabilizers added, and it does not melt as well.

Equipment

I use a pizza peel (wooden or stainless steel) for the best results, but you can also use a rimless baking sheet.  A baking stone is also key to achieving that crispy crust. If you don't have one, you can try using a pizza pan, but I cannot speak from experience.

There is only one more thing to discuss, and it is important! How do you cut this pizza? Whether you use a large chef's knife or a pizza wheel, cut it into what some people call SQUARES!! That bothers me from a mathematical standpoint because they are not all squares. In fact, the "corner" pieces are small triangles, and those are all mine. The point is, DO NOT cut the pizza into traditional triangles. In my opinion, it just won't taste the same.

Now, who is ready to make their entire house smell like a pizzeria?!? Happy pizza-making!

Other pizzas you might enjoy...

Grilled Steak Fajita Sheet Pan Pizza
Hawaiian Pizza
Pepperoni, Sausage and Onion Sheet Pan Pizza
Salami and Arugula Pizza
St. Louis-Style Pizza

Thin-Crust Skillet Pizza

Turkey and Cranberry Barbecue Pizza

Homemade Garlic Butter Mini Naan

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Soft, puffy and blistered with goodness is my version of butter garlic Naan. What do you serve this delightful Indian flatbread with? There are countless recipes, but stay tuned for a souper super easy recipe that will have you wiping your bowl clean with this Naan!

Grilled Steak Fajita Sheet Pan Pizza

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When you're working for the day and all you have is take-out pizza on the brain for dinner, but you're kind of craving Mexican food and you still have a leftover grilled strip steak in the refrigerator that you don't want to go to waste...what do you do?  You come home on break, do a quick search on one of your favorite cooking sites and then become inspired to make Grilled Steak Fajita Sheet Pan Pizza, of course! Doesn't everyone think like that??

The original recipe technique required pulling out the grill and grilling the steak, vegetables and the pizza.  But my steak was already cooked and I have several mouths that I need to feed, so I broke out my Sheet Pan Pizza recipe and got down to business.  While the dough was rising, I made the sauce. Oh my, the sauce is so good!  It's a South of the border adaptation to my traditional pizza sauce.  Just make sure you use chipotle chili powder and not regular chili powder for a nice smokey flavor. Instead of vinegar to brighten the sauce, I used pickled jalapeño juice that comes from a jar of jalapeño nacho slices. 

While the dough was still rising, I decided to broil the peppers and onion instead of dragging out the grill for a nice charred flavor.  Then I had my daughter, Mabelle, grate a mixture of Cheddar, Chihuahua, and Monterey Jack cheese for me before she went to soccer practice ⚽️ (she's such a good helper in the kitchen).  The only thing left was to chop some cilantro, stick my head in the oven 😉 and throw it all together!  

OMG y'all--this was mind blowing! It was like, stuff-your-face good! Or like, I can't-wait-to-have-leftover-steak-to-make-this-again good.  So, if you are celebrating Cinco de Mayo this week...make this pizza!! It has all Mexican-American flavors covered.

Hawaiian Pizza

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Ok pizza purists, stay with me here... Most of you know that I am a big fan of sweet and savory combos, but I have been unable to grasp the idea of putting pineapple on a pizza, not to mention calling it Hawaiian.  Trust me, I lived on Oahu many moons ago and I don't recall this kind of pizza.  It just seemed odd and against the "rules".  But let's face it--when it comes to pizza, there are no rules.  Well, that is unless you are talking about the true Neapolitan-style and you have to have a certain type of flour and such.  I get that.  But when you are slinging pies at home, anything is fair game in my book.

This week I had leftover ham from Easter and a fresh pineapple on the counter.  And since pizza is usually on my brain for dinner, all I could do was think about Hawaiian pizza.  Somebody PLEASE tell me why it is called Hawaiian and why it is the most popular pizza in...wait for it... Australia?!? Scratching my head.  Anyway, these were my thoughts--pineapple likes ham, ham likes cheese, and cheese likes sauce, and everything loves bacon, right?  Throw in a little green onion and serrano or jalapeño for some zing and...ok this might have to happen.  

One thing that I was concerned about was the amount of moisture in the pineapple.  I didn't want that to soggy-up (that's not a word, but I use it) my crust.  So, I caramelized the slices of pineapple in a dry non-stick skillet.  This helped reduce the amount of moisture and intensify the pineapple flavor.  Another thing that I was concerned about was the sauce and cheese ratio to the other ingredients.  I knew this wasn't going to be a traditional pizza parlor flavor, so I used slightly less sauce and cheese than I normally would.  I wanted there to be a good balance of all the flavors going on so that one wouldn't overpower the others. Speaking of the cheese, I used two--mozzarella mostly and a bit of provolone.  I thought the sharpness of the provolone would pair nicely with the sweetness of the pineapple.  Also, when cooking pizzas like this at home, I shape the pizza dough, sauce it, then slide it on the stone for a few minutes.  This gets the crust going and it absorbs some of the sauce without over-burning the cheese.  Then I take it out, throw on the cheese and toppings, and put it back on the stone. I like my cheese just melted with a good brick oven crust.  Unconventional? Yes, but it works.

I have never been so scared, yet so pumped to eat a pizza.  Seriously, before I even assembled the pizza, I had all the ingredients out on the counter in bowls.  I stood there leaning over the counter sniffing from bowl to bowl.  I got the sweet, the savory, and the essence of the heat. Would this be just ok and weird?  Would it be a winner? Or would it be an epic fail?  Time for a taste test. Oh yeah people...we have a winner!  

St. Louis Style Pizza

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I am embarrassed to tell you how many times I have made this in the last month.  But I think I am even more embarrassed to tell you that I don't make just two as the recipe is written.  I make four. My husband and two older children claim they can take one whole pizza, fold it in half, and stuff their faces full.  Although they haven't yet tried that gluttonous technique, they do manage to put quite a few pieces away in one sitting.  My youngest and I eagerly rob each pizza of its corners ☺.  (There is just something special about those corners.)  And the leftovers are packed away in school/work lunches.  

I didn't grow up with this style of pizza, but with the frequency that I have been making it, I am apparently making up for lost time.  The crust is very thin and almost cracker-like.  There is no yeast in the dough and the only leavening agent is baking powder.  This dough is perfect for those of you who are wary of working with yeast.  The original sauce was quite bland and way too sweet for me, so I dialed back the sugar and added a few herbs and garlic (you just gotta have garlic in pizza sauce).  Then I brightened up the tomato flavor with a little red wine vinegar.  The original cheese blend was Cheddar and American, but after a little research, I learned that a true St. Louis style pizza uses Provol cheese.  It is a blend of Cheddar, Swiss, and Mozzarella.  I can't find that in my local markets, so I use my own ratio of the three cheeses. The secret ingredient to the cheese blend that makes this pie stand out is liquid smoke.  Not much-- just three drops.  It adds a nice, subtle smokiness.

Bake it in a hot oven until golden brown.  Cut it into squares (pie shapes are a no-no) and fight over the corners.

Salami and Arugula Pizza

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Now that you have my go-to recipes for homemade pizza dough and sauce, it's time to share with you my favorite pizza (or least one of them).  Meaty salami, fresh mozzarella, herbal basil and peppery arugula all come together for a remarkable flavor combination.  The salami is cut into matchsticks rather than circles for a better bite.  They are also quickly pan fried to remove some of the excess fat and to provide a slight crisp.  Fresh mozzarella is used instead of the standard processed version for a light and creamy texture.  Once baked to perfection, it is topped with a sprinkle of chopped basil and some baby arugula.

Speaking of baking a pizza-- this is a controversial issue.  And what I mean by that is-- What oven rack position to you place your baking stone on?  The answer-- It depends on your oven.  With my previous oven I had success with the upper middle position, but with my current oven I achieve the best results with the middle position. The bottom and outer edge of the crust should be nicely browned with a few charred spots.  If the top of the pizza bakes faster than the bottom, lower the baking rack before continuing with the second pizza.  It may take a couple of tries before you find what works best for you.  Bon Appétit magazine even came out with this method using the broiler element.

Homemade Pizza Dough

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Make your own pizza dough.  Really, give it a try and see if you don't end up doing it again.  Pizza places are humming during the holidays due to the amount of cooking being done for parties and family gatherings.  And that's great.  There are a lot of good pizza places out there.  But being able to reach into the fridge or freezer for your own hand-crafted dough is something special.  Taking on the challenge of perfecting it can be a rewarding experience (obsession) you might never have expected.  

This dough is great for thin pizza that has a crisp crust and chewy pull (thank the high gluten flour for that one), but it is also a suitable dough for calzones, stromboli, pizza bites, or even a simple flat bread for the dinner table.