Detroit style pizza

The Detroit style pizza is a deep-dish pizza made in a rectangle steel pan and then cut into squares.

The dough has a unusually high hydration level for a pizza which creates a fluffy, moist and delicious pizza topped with low hydration mozzarella and sausage.

This recipe is inspired by J. Kenji López-Alt but with modifications to streamline the process and add a bit more flavor.

Method

In a container, mix all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, yeast) and give it a quick mix with a spoon, then add the water.

Start kneading the dough. If you have a stand mixer mix it for 2 minutes on low speed to combine the dough, and then 10 minutes on medium to develop gluten strength. If you knead by hand, knead for 10-12 minutes.

Tip!

The dough is ready when it passes the windowpane test. Wet your hands, take a piece of dough, and gently stretch it. If it doesn't break, it has passed the test! If not, knead a few more minutes.Image courtesy of Ankarsum

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with a damp towel and let it rest in room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

You can also cold proof the dough in the fridge for 4-72 hours to develop more taste. Take the dough out of the fridge 1 hour before bake.

Stickiness

The hydration (water contents) of this dough is very high (75%), so the dough will be very sticky and hard to handle. That's totally fine and expected, don't add any more flour!

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 275°C/525°F. If you have a pizza steel, place it on the oven rack to get a more crispy pizza bottom.

Time to make the pizza sauce. Add the canned tomatoes to a container and mix them until smooth. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add all the ingredients and bring the sauce to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

I prefer to make the sauce the night before to make the pizza baking easier, and also letting the sauce develop as much taste as possible.

Tip

Remember to over season your sauce, the dough and cheeze will absorb a lot of the flavor.

If you taste the sauce and think "this is way too intense" the sauce is perfect.

Pour a couple tablespoons olive oil in the bottom of a cast iron pan (roughly 23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13 inch in size) and transfer the dough to the pan. Press down on the dough to spread it toward the edges as much as you can without tearing it.

If you can't spread it all the way to the edges, cover the pan in plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes, and then give it another try.

Cut the cheese into small cubes (1cm / 1⁄3 of an inch). Lay half of the sausage evenly over the face of the dough. Spread the cheese evently across the dough, make sure to add it to the very edges of the pan. Add the rest of the sausage. Spoon the tomato sauce over the surface in 3 even rows.

Layer it however you like

While having the tomato sauce on top is a classic feature of Detroit-style pizza, there's nothing stopping you from layering it in a more traditional way—with dough, sauce, cheese, and sausage in that order.

Transfer the pan to oven and bake until edges are black and bubbly the cheese is lightly brown, it'll take about 15-20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a trivet or folded kitchen towel on countertop.

Run a thin metal spatula all the way around the edges of the pan to loosen the pizza. You can also use a dough scraper made out of steel. Carefully lift it out and slide it onto a cutting board. Cut pizza and serve.

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