Gluten-Free Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza

In a medium-size bowl or the bowl of your food processor, place the flour, xanthan gum, cornmeal, yeast, sugar and salt and stir or pulse to combine.

To the flour mixture, add the 4 tablespoons of canola oil and the water in a steady stream, either pulsing in a food processor or mixing with a spoon or fork to combine. If you are using a food processor, pulse while streaming in the water, until a ball begins to form. Otherwise, stir constantly while streaming in the water and continue stirring until the mixture begins to come together. If the dough seems super sticky, add some more flour a tablespoon at a time, and stir or pulse to combine. Press the dough into a disk.

Place the dough in another medium-size bowl and drizzle it with the olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it with oil. This will prevent a crust from forming on the dough while it is rising. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise until it is about 1 1/2 times its original volume (about 1 hour).

After the dough has risen, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

When you are ready to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 425° F. Grease well with canola oil a 12 inch round baking dish with sides that are at least 1 1/2 inches high. There are deep dish pizza pans (I have mini ones), but you can use a round cake pan or a spring form pan.

Press the pizza dough evenly into the bottom of the pan and up the sides, leaving a small clean edge toward the top of the pan so there aren’t exposed edges that can burn easily during baking. The corn meal will have made the pizza dough much less smooth and pliable than ideal, but it is worth it for the taste in the final product. Trust me.

To assemble the pizza, use whatever ingredients you like. If you are up for it (as I always am), slather the bottom and sides of the crust with softened unsalted butter. Be up for it. It’ll give the crust that buttery taste you get when it is baked in a well-seasoned buttered cast iron skillet. Then layer in slices of cheese (provolone works really beautifully, but really any cheese that isn’t super soft will do just fine), then whatever else you like (sausage slices, pepperoni slices, pancetta cubes, sautéed vegetables, you get the idea), sprinkle in chopped fresh herbs (oregano and basil are really nice), cover with tomato sauce and a thin layer of finely grated Parmesan cheese.

Tent the pan with aluminum foil, and place it in the center of the preheated oven.

Bake for 20 minutes, uncover, and bake again until the sauce and cheese are bubbling and the crust is nicely browned (about another 10 minutes).

Cool in the pan for at least 10 to 15 minutes. It should come right out of the pan. Serve right away.