Dish This

Dear Tia Tay,

It has been a while...too long! In the past month I've been to both Texas and Bangladesh and back again. I attended numerous wedding events, wore multiple saris, and ate countless meals. In Bangladesh, some of those meals were violently wrenched from me by a horrible and mysterious stomach virus that seemed to affect the most careful of eaters.

And casting its long shadow over it all: the aftermath of my grandmother's sudden passing. As the matriarch of my mother's family, she often dictated what the nightly menu would be, and was often found in the kitchen, inspecting the cook's progress, perhaps making an emphatically stated suggestion. In order to make less arduous the impossibly long trip to Bangladesh, my mother and I would often make each other salivate by making lists of what we were going to eat when we finally got there. It was a given that my grandmother both knew my favorite Bengali foods, and that I would get a chance to eat all of them under her watchful eyes.

This trip was, of course, very different. There was no one there to remember that I loved bini baat, coconut rice served with fresh cream and date syrup. There was no one in that corner room where the cousins and aunts and uncles would often congregate in shifts, where my grandmother would wave a hand airily towards the high shelves stacked with tins that would eventually be pried open, revealing deliciously thin and crispy treats enjoyed best with milk tea.

So when I came back to Richmond, I found it difficult to get back into the swing of cooking. It just wasn't fun for awhile, or worth mentioning. In some ways, though, I realize that it is the most necessary of activities: I'm honoring my grandmother's high culinary standards. In the end, I think you and I both know that the act of cooking and the act of eating must stem from both feeling and tradition. I think that's why it's so important that we continue writing to each other this way, despite my very long hiatus away from it. I hope you will still want to after my negligence!

There doesn't seem to be a much better way to make good on my resolution to keep writing to you than to make a meal that made me think very much of you and little arroz: Chicago deep dish pizza! With the help of J and our friends Ben and Laura, I'm happy to present to you a picture of our golden-crusted masterpiece:


What other meal could be more comforting or more delicious for a gestating pre-mother in one of the coldest effing places in the United States during winter?

I got the recipe from the most recent Cooks' Illustrated, whose cooks your mother, never one to mince words, once called "those OCD people who love food so much." This recipe epitomizes that claim to fame, and how: it takes a long time, a few hours, and the directions are painstaking. But. It is. So. Worth it. Apparently what makes this pizza crust sing is butter, and lots of it.

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Ingredients

Dough
3 1/4 cups (16 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 3/4 ounces) yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/4 cups water (10 ounces), room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted, plus 4 tablespoons, softened
1 teaspoon plus 4 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup grated onion , from 1 medium onion (they suggested using a box grater, which worked great)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper

Toppings
1 pound mozzarella cheese , shredded (about 4 cups) (see note)
1/2 ounce grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions

1. FOR THE DOUGH: Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

2. Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl, turning once to oil top; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.

3. FOR THE SAUCE: While dough rises, heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 25 to 30 minutes. Off heat, stir in oil, then season with salt and pepper

4. TO LAMINATE THE DOUGH: Adjust oven rack to lower position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15- by 12-inch rec-tangle. Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving 1/2-inch border along edges. Starting at short end, roll dough into tight cylinder. With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18- by 4-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise. Working with 1 half, fold into thirds like business letter; pinch seams together to form ball. Repeat with remaining half. Return balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40 to 50 minutes.

5. Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with 2 tablespoons olive oil each. Transfer 1 dough ball to dry work surface and roll out into 13-inch disk about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer dough to pan by rolling dough loosely around rolling pin and unrolling into pan. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1 inch up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat with remaining dough ball.

6. For each pizza, sprinkle 2 cups mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. Spread 1 1/4 cups tomato sauce over cheese and sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce. Bake until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

7. In order to convince oneself that a generous slice of buttery, cheesy pizza is healthy, serve with a salad.


Whew. That was a long post. I'll try not to wait this long in the future. I can't wait to hear what you've been up to lately, and to hear some updates about the progress of little arroz!

Love to you and B -

Tia Fia