Chicago Thin-Crust (Tavern-Style) Pizza With Sausage and Giardiniera
Updated Feb. 25, 2025
- Total Time
- 35 minutes, plus at least 3½ hours for the dough
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ¾cup mild or hot giardiniera (see Tips)
- Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting
- 1stretched, cured Chicago thin-crust (tavern-style) pizza dough skin
- ¾ to 1cup pizza sauce for Chicago thin-crust, more or less to taste, or use store-bought pizza sauce
- 2ounces finely shredded or powdered Pecorino Romano or Parmesan
- 8 to 12ounces full-fat low-moisture mozzarella, shredded, more or less to taste (see Tips)
- ½recipe (about 8 ounces) Chicago-style Italian sausage, or use store-bought (raw bulk sausage or raw cased sausage with casings removed)
For Each Pizza
Preparation
- Step 1
At least 45 minutes before baking, set a baking steel or stone (larger than 14 inches, see Tips) on an oven rack in the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain excess oil from the giardiniera in a fine-mesh strainer, tossing to get as much off as possible. Discard the oil and set aside the giardiniera.
- Step 2
When the oven is heated and you’re ready to bake, dust a pizza peel with semolina or cornmeal. Lift cured pizza skin with the parchment or butcher paper still attached. The top (exposed) side will be drier than the underside. Place the pizza skin on the peel with the drier side facing down (so the papered side faces up). Peel off the parchment paper or butcher paper and discard. Using a fork, poke the crust all over to prevent large bubbles from forming.
- Step 3
Spread the sauce evenly over the entire surface of the pizza, all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with half the Romano or Parmesan. Spread the mozzarella evenly over the entire surface, spreading it all the way to the edges. Use your fingertips to dollop marble-size pieces of the raw sausage all over the pizza. Sprinkle with the giardiniera.
- Step 4
Give the pizza peel a few shakes to make sure the pizza is still loose (if it sticks at all, using a metal spatula or pizza peel to loosen it), then transfer the pizza to the heated baking steel or stone. Bake until the pizza is as done as you like it. (If you like yours browned and bubbly in the center and lightly charred at the edges, that’ll be about 10 minutes, depending on your oven.) You can use a metal pizza peel to lift the edges of the pizza and peek underneath as it bakes to ensure the bottom is done to your liking.
- Step 5
Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and sprinkle immediately with the remaining Romano or Parmesan. Allow to rest for 3 minutes, cut into 1½- to 2-inch squares, and serve immediately. Let the oven reheat for at least 10 minutes before baking subsequent pizzas.
- This style of pizza works best with minimal toppings–two to three items max. Sausage and giardiniera is a classic combination in the Chicago area. I like using J.P. Graziano hot giardiniera, which is available by mail order.
- Do not use Italian-style (fresh) mozzarella for this pizza. If you cannot find full-fat low-moisture mozzarella, use a combination of widely available part-skim low-moisture mozzarella and shredded Monterey Jack. The cheeses will melt better if you grate them yourself, but pre-shredded can be used in a pinch.
- If you do not have a baking stone or steel at least 14 inches square, 12-inch pizzas can also be baked on smaller stones or on the back of a large overturned aluminum sheet tray set on an oven rack while the oven heats. Follow the recipe for 12-inch pizza dough balls as outlined in the Tip for the Chicago thin-crust (tavern-style) pizza dough.
Private Notes
Comments
Spectacular! Indeed, I think it is way past time to categorize Pizzas by some town or city name. As he points out, the mistaken idea that Chicago is deep dish is found to be immediately wrong when you actually eat a few from around town. The hints he has are a nice collection and summary, making a pizza very much like a unique one found in the upper midwest at a few places in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Upper Michigan. Bravo for the tips. They all make a difference. Nicely written article.
Thrilled to see this - the pizza I had growing up in the Chicago burbs. Always square cut. But giardiniera is for Italian beef!! We ordered our pizza “garbage style” - sausage as here, plus onion, artichoke, green pepper, mushroom, black olive, and anchovy. I know Kenji says 2-3 toppings max but this combo was SO good.
Could you use Muffaletta condiment? It’s finely chopped Giardiniera mixed with garlic, capers and olives and olive oil.
Tried this recipe alongside others. I traded out the giardiniera for mushrooms and olives. The result was very good. The crust came out fine and believe JKLA and me when it says its really thin. Would not make this dough recipe again though; too much time and babysitting compared to the other recipes that were equally good and much quicker. My guests and I regaled this recipe and the others equally in the comparison.
Made this as written but took the dough out about six hours before cooking based on other comments here and in the dough recipe itself. We made with spicy impossible sausage and Marconi giardiniera and it was unreal.
Made this tonight and here were a few tips: - In the video, it looks like the cheese has melted off the side, presumably onto the steel. This also happened to me (which makes for tasty cheese crisps), but getting it off was impossible before my next bake. It burnt into the subsequent pizzas and was frustrating. - Accidentally put it in the fridge the second night instead of leaving it at room temp all night. Didnt make a difference - Definitely make sure sauce goes to the edges, otherwise crust just ends up burnt and not as nice - Make sure to measure, I did one at 12” and another at 14” and the latter was significantly better tasting Overall great recipe, tasty and would cook again!