2230 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville KY 40206
Chicago style Deep Dish Pizza
It is often reported that Chicago style deep dish pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago, in 1943, by Uno's founder Ike Sewell However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe, and Michele Mohr from the Chicago Tribune reports that the menu at Rosati’s Authentic Chicago Pizza has included deep-dish since it opened in 1926.
Any way you slice it, deep dish pizza is deeply rooted in Chicago and so is Jake and Elwood’s. We’re proud to carry on the tradition of creating and serving authentic Chicago style deep dish pizza for our friends and neighbors right here in Louisville.
Because of this, the toppings are assembled "upside-down" from their usual order on a pizza. The crust is covered with cheese, followed by various meat options such as pepperoni or sausage, the latter of which sometimes is in a solid patty-like layer. Other toppings such as onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers are then also used.
An uncooked sauce, typically made from crushed tomatoes, is added as the finishing layer; though sometimes, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese is added for extra flavor.
Our deep dish pizzas are hearty meals, not some wimpy appetizer. Jake and Elwood's delivers unforgettable pizzas combining Italy's old authentic recipes with Chi-Town savvy incorporating impressive quantities of the finest meats, fresh cheeses, ripe vegetables and flavorful spices.
The primary difference between deep dish pizza and most other forms of pizza is that, as the name suggests, the crust is very deep, creating a very thick pizza that resembles a pie more than a flatbread. Although the entire pizza is very thick, in traditional Chicago style deep dish pizzas the crust itself is thin to medium in thickness.
Deep dish pizza is baked in an iron skillet or a round, steel pan that is more similar to a cake or pie pan than a typical pizza pan. The pan is oiled to allow for easy removal as well as to create a fried effect on the outside of the crust. The dough is pressed up onto the sides of the pan, forming a bowl for a very thick layer of toppings.
The thick layer of toppings used in deep dish pizza requires a longer baking time (typically 30-45 minutes), which could burn cheese or other toppings if they were used as the top layer of the pizza.
