Deep dish is a gimmick and not a pizza....a casserole, maybe, but definitely not pizza. The real pizza of the Chicagoland....cracker-thin. But the kicker here is the best cracker thin pizza in the midwest doesn't even come out of Illinois, its from Racine, WI. Wells Brothers.
Tried cracking their code and making a replica this afternoon, and I think I nailed it. I did make one change though, I wanted a sweeter crust, so I put some Cap'n Crunch in the food processor and ground it into a fine powder to add into my flour at an 85/15 ratio. Cooked in the oven on convection at 550° on a pizza stone after a 60 minute pre-heat and finished under the broiler for the last 45 seconds. Other than that, shredded whole milk mozz from the local cheese factory (in Wisconsin there's always one within 10 miles) along with uncured pepperoni and a homemade sauce consisting of San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, shallot, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper.
Here it is, in all its glory. I would say its a damn close version of Wells Brothers but there is a missing flavor I can't quite distinguish, but that sweeter crust was a great addition.
Tried cracking their code and making a replica this afternoon, and I think I nailed it. I did make one change though, I wanted a sweeter crust, so I put some Cap'n Crunch in the food processor and ground it into a fine powder to add into my flour at an 85/15 ratio. Cooked in the oven on convection at 550° on a pizza stone after a 60 minute pre-heat and finished under the broiler for the last 45 seconds. Other than that, shredded whole milk mozz from the local cheese factory (in Wisconsin there's always one within 10 miles) along with uncured pepperoni and a homemade sauce consisting of San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, shallot, basil, oregano, and salt and pepper.
Here it is, in all its glory. I would say its a damn close version of Wells Brothers but there is a missing flavor I can't quite distinguish, but that sweeter crust was a great addition.
Last edited:
