Topping for Stuffed Pizza - what should it be like?

(I hope this is an OK place to put this question...wasn't really sure which forum it belonged to.)

Despite my forum name, I'm not all that well acquainted with pizza, especially Chicago-style. My husband and I have ordered stuffed pizza from three different places since we moved here, and have had mixed results.

1) Delisi's - It seemed like the topping consisted of nothing but a can of drained diced tomatoes. No seasonings, no cooking it down. I happen to like canned diced tomatoes, so it was OK for me, but just OK.

2) Papa Giorgio's - the sauce seemed like the cook had emptied a can of tomato paste into a bowl, thinned it with a little bit of water, and then added a cup of sugar to it. WAY too sweet, and no tomato chunks at all.

3) Giordano's - this topping was the most pleasing to me. It was a nice mixture of tomato chunks and sauce, and fairly well-seasoned. But our experience was marred by the fact that half of the pizza crust was completely soggy and inedible.

I didn't mean to turn this post into a restaurant review. I'm more curious as to what I should expect (for the topping) when I order a stuffed pizza. That will help me decide better which pizza is good and which is bad.

I think your third experience was closest to what it should be (though of course the crust shouldn't be soggy) (and who knows what's "right" with a hybrid food liked stuffed pizza anyway). I'm fond of the stuffed spinach pizza at Edwardo's. I've previously posted a similar recipe that works well for me. Check it out here.

Delisi's is not really the same style as Giordano's. Delisi's is kind of in the Pizzeria Uno/Lou Malnati's style, which is a crust with shortening in it, a layer of cheese, and chunky tomatoes on top. I would try Malnati's to have about the best of this style that there is. This is deep dish pizza, or sometimes called pan pizza, but it is not stuffed pizza-- a crucial distinction. ("Deep dish," "pan," and "thick" are used to refer to any of these, only "stuffed" seems to have a genuinely specific meaning that doesn't get abused.)

Giordano's is a stuffed pizza, which means it has a second layer of dough covering all the filling (or "stuffing"), and then typically a layer of tomato sauce on top of that dough. Edwardo's (which makes a big deal-- probably more than is entirely warranted-- of its natural ingredients), and Art of Pizza are good examples of this kind.

Art of Pizza
3033 N Ashland Ave
(773) 327-5600

Wikipedia explains it all, pretty well actually.

Mike G wrote:Delisi's is not really the same style as Giordano's. Delisi's is kind of in the Pizzeria Uno/Lou Malnati's style, which is a crust with shortening in it, a layer of cheese, and chunky tomatoes on top. I would try Malnati's to have about the best of this style that there is. This is deep dish pizza, or sometimes called pan pizza, but it is not stuffed pizza-- a crucial distinction. ("Deep dish," "pan," and "thick" are used to refer to any of these, only "stuffed" seems to have a genuinely specific meaning that doesn't get abused.)[/url]

Had a "Deluxe" at Lou Malnati's last week, and it was a paradigm of over-loaded, too-much-is-not-nearly-enough American pizza style. Must have been several pounds of veg on a slightly browned Buttercrust, virtually seasoning-free, no cheese on top (just on the underlayment) but for all that, not really bad, just not anything like what I prefer in a pizza.

Hammond

Mike G wrote:Wikipedia explains it all, pretty well actually.

Wikipedia wrote:Tearing a small hole in the top of the "lid" allows air to escape while cooking, so that the pizza does not explode.

Oh, to have been a fly on the kitchen wall when this principal was discovered.