posted February 05, 2008 05:12 PM         

It's good enough, we thought we'd share it with you and let you decide.

This is based on Champaign/Urbana style Pizza made famous by a place called Garcia's Pizza in a Pan: Home of the Flying Tomato.
(I grew up in Chicago, and Garcia's Gutbuster was arguably the best pizza that ever existed, and hands down the best pan pizza ever made. Eat your heart out Ray's and Giordano's!)

Now our recipe isn't Garcia's, Ray's or Giordano's perfect yet, but we'll keep working on the recipe; trying to perfect the technique, the Crust, the Sauce and get it right. If you happen to try it, we'd appreciate your feedback and ideas.

Together..we're going to make the perfect pizza. Here's what we have so far.

-------[RECIPE LAST UPDATED Feb 9, 2008]-------

ZMO N DAF's PAN PIZZA FROM SCRATCH

DOUGH INGREDIENTS
(Makes one full size 9 x 13 inch pan pizza):

1 Pkg Active Dry Yeast
1 Cup Warm Water (97 - 110 F)
1/8 Cup Oil (Corn, Sunflower or Olive)
1/8 Cup Melted Margarine
2 Tsp Sweetener (Sugar, Honey or Other)
2 3/4 Cup Flour (Hi Gluten/Bread Flour - General Purpose works but is less chewey.
NOTE: If adding Vital Gluten to General Purpose Flour, use 2 Tsp for this recipe.)
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Cup Cornmeal
1/2 Tsp Salt

SAUCE INGREDIENTS
(Makes one full size 9 x 13 inch pan pizza):

1 14 oz Can Stewed Tomatoes
1 8 oz Can Tomato Sauce
3 Tsp (Sugar, Honey or other Sweetener)
2 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder (Or other Sweet spice)
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
2 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Oregano
3 Tsp Parmesan

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

Shredded Mozarella cheese
Your favorite toppings

You'll want a large mixing bowl, a smaller mixing bowl and if you have a Mixer with dough attachments..lucky you =) You might want some extra bowls for allowing the dough to rise.

DOUGH PREPARATION:

1. In the large bowl (or the mixer's bowl), empty one packet of Active Dry Yeast

2. Add 1 Cup of water at approx. 100 degrees Fahrenheit (just starting to get hot to the touch)

3. Let sit for approximately 3 minutes to let the yeast become active.

4. Add all other ingredients. (Oil, Sweetener, Flour, Garlic, Cornmeal and Salt)

5. Mix until dough is firm enough to knead without it sticking all over your hands.

6. Add Mixer's dough hook attachment OR get your hands ready and start kneading..

7. Dough should be sticky without leaving any on your hands.

a) If it's not sticky enough, add water or oil a half/teaspoon at a time until it's right.
(oil will make the crust crumble more easily, water will allow it to be chewier.)
b) If it's too sticky, add Flour a half/teaspoon at a time until it's right.

8. Knead by hand for 20 minutes or 10 minutes in a mixer.

9. Roll the dough into a ball.

10. If you have a bowl for each ball that you make, that's best..otherwise they rise and merge together.

11. Coat the bottom of the bowl with a little oil to avoid sticking and place the dough in it
covering the bowl.

12. Wait 30 minutes for the dough to rise, then flatten each dough ball down to remove the bubbles.
Form balls again and place them back in the bowl. Cover them.

13. Wait 1 - 2 hours at room temperature or place dough in refrigerator overnight and pull out 30 - 45 minutes before preparing your pizza. Alternatively, place in freezer bags for up to 3 months.

SAUCE PREPARATION:

1. Mix all ingredients except Parmesan, add spices to your liking. Thickness is important. If sauce is thick enough, add Parmesan. Otherwise, simmer on stove top if juice from canned tomatoes make the sauce too thin. Allow to cool afterward, then add the Parmesan.

FINAL PREPARATION:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. If you have a pizza stone, this is the time to place it in the oven. The rack should be about 2/3 down in an electric range. I'm not sure about gas times.
If you don't have a pizza stone, turning a baking sheet upside down will work. It helps to transfer heat evenly and crisp up the crust.

2. Grease your pizza pan (not the upside down baking sheet) with oil, margarine or canola cooking spray whatever keeps it from sticking. (I'm using margarine these days.)

3. Place a ball of dough in the center of the pan, and evenly spread the dough out.
Don't stretch it out, press it out. Leave a 1/4 inch or higher raised rim around the edge to hold toppings and cheese.

4. Brush oil onto the top of the pizza, to help the dough cook better under the sauce.

5. Add a thin layer of sauce..or thick as you please. I pour it all in. The cheese firms it up.

6. Add loads of Mozarella cheese. and top with your favorites. Also try putting toppings under and on top of the sauce. Double pepperoni this way..is pretty good.

7. Place pizza pan on top of your pizza stone or upside down baking sheet. (If you don't like your cheese well done, cover the pan with foil.

8. Cook for 30 - 45 minutes. When cheese is browning..pizza is almost ready. If crust is also a nice brown..it's probably time to pull it.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 2 - 5 minutes so the cheese can solidify a little and the pizza can be cut neatly.

posted February 05, 2008 06:36 PM         

Of the locations left, I recall a Peoria location at the Northwoods Mall Garcia's that is really good. I've done a little research and found a TEXAS Garcia's franchise that changed its name to the Flying Tomato Pizza. According to reviews, they still make the BEST pan pizza in the world..Garcia's lives!

posted February 05, 2008 06:58 PM         

This is my favorite local Chicago style pizza place: http://www.zacharys.com/

posted February 06, 2008 11:01 AM         

I'm gunna go make another pizza. This time I'm going to increase the rise times to get more of that "alcohol" fresh bread taste and smell. Oh and I'm going to ask my boss (who owns a pizza joint among other things), if I can get one of those big bags of High Gluten Flour. Theeen we'll be in business.

=)

Note: We WILL be going to freshly prepared ingredients once we've got a recipe that's good enough with these cheaper ones. If it's really good with cheap ingredients, our theory is it will be AMAZING when we start preparing them with the good stuff.

posted February 07, 2008 01:59 AM         

1. Undercooked in the middle, something we didn't anticipate with the larger pie. A second baking cooked the center, but hardened the crust. Just cover and leave it in longer. Also bake at a slightly lower temperature. I'll be trying foil next time.

2. Too much of almost everything spice wise in the sauce. It was ok when the dough outweighed the sauce..now the oregano is overpowering. Oregano has been reduced.

3. The pepper was appreciated by some..who like spicy. Overall I thought it was the sign of a poor recipe that the pepper felt it had to scream that loudly. So pepper is going to be sedated for now.

4. We needed a sweetener in the sauce which wasn't more sugar. Onion powder seemed to fit the bill. Mostly because it didn't sound as strange as..carrot. Onion powder was added.

5. To get more bread yeast taste, rising times were increased.

posted February 09, 2008 03:50 PM         

Here's our latest iteration:

Note the overly thick crust, and the wrinkled texture. That's what happens when you let it rise too long in the pan. The smell is amazing however. I'll post notes about flavor and adjustments in a few minutes after it's cooled.

1. The crust is very close, but there's a certain sweetness missing. A lot of that yeasty smell and taste though. It's delicious..just a tiny touch plain for my taste.

2. The sauce is quite good now. It's not there yet. Can't quite put my finger on what's missing. I'll try adding Basil.

We've learned that kneading and rise times are crucial to getting the right texture and taste.

Also, we've learned that they aren't kidding when they say that yeast has a duration to it. While waiting for one of the ingredients to come from the store, they finally ran out of steam or something, and the gorgeously puffy crust started to deflate. Ssssss.

All in all I'm very pleased with this pizza.

A strange note: It has a pan pizza outer crust, and a thin crust pizza bottom crust.

We apparently combined the two in this one. (I pressed the center dough out repeatedly to make it thin so it would be cooked all of the way through. Also, getting rid of the mozzarella at the bottom gets rid of the "cheese/dough" mess under the sauce. It looks like raw dough when the mozzarella melts into the raw dough. It may very well be. Not this time though.)

I'll try to keep from pressing the center dough so flat next time and see if we can get that 1/4" bottom crust that we're looking for without it coming out raw. Lowering the oven temperature helped too I think. We'll see next pizza.