Good Pizza Is Hard To Find

Just this morning my girlfriend e-mails me asking if I knew of any good Chicago style pizzerias in LA, similar to Zachary's. Ahh, good ol' Zachary's. One of the many things I miss about the bay area is that place. They make one of the best (if not *the* best) Chicago-style deep dish pizza. The smell, the heavy box, the fact that you can only just eat at most two slices, no matter how hungry you are, thus giving you food for dinner and lunch and dinner the next day, and even on those days the pizza still tastes good...

In my defense, I went to Chicago to visit a buddy of mine and while there, I had a few of their pizzas. Yet I felt that Zachary's still was a step above. So to give my girlfriend some choices and secretly hoping to find something similar here in SoCal, I decided to check out various review sites (chowhound, craigslist, epinions). Most of them have said that there really isn't anything worth mentioning. In one of them, I think it was cl, I found a reference to Zachary's and they 'supposedly' had a recipe. So now you can make your own Zachary's at home! Here's the recipe:

Crust:
1 tbsp sugar
1 pkg (1 tbsp) yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
.25 cup vegetable oil
4 - 6 cups all purpose flour

* dissolve sugar and yeast in large bowl; let stand until bubbly
* add oil
* stir in 4 cups of flour until smooth
* knead appropriately
* turn into greased bowl and let rise until doubled
* make sauce
* punch down dowug and let rest for 10 minutes

Tomato Sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1 large can (28oz) of crushed tomatoes and puree
1.5 tsp minced fresh oregano
1.5 tsp minced fresh basil
pinch of salt
.25 tsp ground black pepper

* heat olive oil, saute garlic
* add tomatoes, spices

Simmer 30 minutes

Cheeses:
2.5 cups mozzarella cheese
.25 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
.25 cup grated romano cheese

Spinach Pesto:
.25 cup pine nuts
3 chopped garlic cloves
.75 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped spinach
.75 cup basil leaves
.25 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
.25 cup grated fresh romano cheese

* grind pine nuts, garlic and olive oil in food processor
* add spinach and basil, puree until smooth
* add cheeses
* add salt & pepper to taste

This makes enough for two large pizzas

Preparation Of The Whole Thing:
* roll out two thirds of dough on lightly floured surface
* fit this into pan and press dough over the sides
* mix cheeses and spread evenely over the dough
* roll out remaining dough to form a 14" circle
* place over the filled dough, seal of edges and remove excess
* pour the tomato sauce over the top layer
* top with spinach pesto

Bake in preheated 450 oven for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden