When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie

I moved to the Seattle-land area almost 3 years ago. Since moving here, I have been exposed to more different foods than I ever thought possible. Growing up in a small suburb of Chicago, our menu was fairly simple: Mexican food, (American) Chinese food, American food, and of course, pizza! Words cannot even being to describe how sad I was when I discovered that Chicago style pizza, something that I had once taken for granted, was now to become a distant memory and the occasional treat. Whenever I head home to the Heartland, I always want to indulge in the thick gooey delite that is Chicago Style Pizza!



There is nothing like a deep dish Chicago pizza. The outer crust is crunchy on the outside, but chewy on the inside, and can be the depth of a finger! This thick barrier of crust is filled with greasy, glistening Italian sausage, crisp green peppers, succulent mushrooms (if I'm ordering it!), and a mini-mountain of cheese. These toppings are covered with another layer of dough, and then that layer of crust is covered with thick pizza sauce. This wonderful concoction is popped into an over for approximately 45 minutes and then is removed and served piping hot. The cheese is melted to perfection and the crust is crisp. The pizza slice is so thick, only someone who wishes to wear it on their shirt would eat it with their hands. A fork and knife are the preferred method to enjoying this perfect pizza. MMMMMMM.... I'm so glad I'll be back in Chicago in June!



So one can only imagine my shock in learning of the poor selection of pizza that Seattle offered. Pizzas out here are offered with strange and foreign ingredients....sorry, goat cheese and basil on a whole wheat multi-grain crust is NOT a real pizza! When I complained to the locals about their lack of good pizza, they suggested various pizza joints to try out. I complied, but still found the pizzas lacking as there was a lack of sauce used, or not enough cheese, or no Italian sausage. It's sad to say, but now if I really want a pizza, I either go to Pizza Hut (which has horrible pizza) or go to the grocery store and by a DiGiorno (which really aren't all that bad, considering they are frozen and all). My husband and I have tried a few times to make our own deep dish pizzas, but these homemade pizzas cannot even begin to compare to an authentic deep dish Chicago Style Pizza!