Cooking Classes are a great way to spend time with your family and friends, a perfect event for all ages. Uno’s Pizzeria & Grill offers a hands-on, Deep Dish Pizza Cooking Class that teaches students just how they make their Chicago Style Deep Dish pizza, step by step.
My husband purchased the Uno’s Deep Dish Pizza Cooking Class for me as a Christmas gift, and I was so glad he did. It was an amazing experience to hear the back story of how Uno’s began, learn how to make my favorite Uno’s Deep Dish Pizza, and enjoy my creation.
I’ve been enjoying Uno’s Deep Dish Pizza for well over 20 years and my favorite is the Four Cheese. I was heartbroken when they took it off the menu a few years ago. Luckily, they still have all the ingredients and are always happy to create this favorite for me.
During this class, Uno’s showed the same level of customer service and provided the ingredients and directions for me to make my own Four Cheese Deep Dish creation.
When we first arrived, we were given aprons to put on and offered a drink of our choosing (non-alcoholic drinks come with the class). We had a pizza pan with dough waiting for us at our seats. Everything we well organized and we were able to chat and get to know a little about our fellow classmates.
History of Uno’s Pizzeria & Grill
As the class began we learned a little about the history of Uno’s and how they started in Chicago in 1943. Ike Sewell developed deep dish pizza and opened his first restaurant at the corner of Ohio & Wabash, Pizzeria Uno. Also, many of the photos and decor in the restaurants depict Chicago and the 1943 time frame.
We learned that the original process took about 1 hour to make from start to finish. Today, the crust is par-baked (as many pie crusts are) to shorten the process when you visit Uno’s Pizzeria & Grill today.
While Uno’s began and is famous for its deep-dish crusts, they have expanded to have an amazing thin crust and greatly expanded their menu over the years. It was even noted that they took special effort to sourced their gluten-free crusts, for a great tasting option. Others in my class did agree that it made for a tasty gluten-free pizza.
Uno’s Deep Dish – The Process
While creating an Uno’s Deep Dish Pizza is more involved than I’d expected, it was interesting to learn how the process has changed over the years to streamline the process.
How to make the Uno’s deep dish pizza crust
The crust is made the day before and allowed to ferment in the refrigerator overnight. The crust is taken out of the refrigerator to proof and brought back to room temperature before using.
Although you may think, by the name, that the deep-dish pizza contains a thick crust, it really doesn’t. The crust is really about the thickness of a regular hand-tossed pizza, but the name comes from the way the crust is shaped up the side of the pan to create a deep area for your toppings.
It did take some time to get used to the crust shaping process. I learned to make steady little pulls make it stay up the side a bit better. There is always plenty of assistance if anyone needs it. Young and old, everyone had a great time!
At this point, they took our little crust masterpieces in the pack, labeled with our names on popsicle sticks of course.
How Uno’s added the toppings
While our crusts were in the back par-baking, bowls of sauce and any toppings of our choice were brought out in platters and bowls. There was no shortage of goodies at any time during this class.
Our instructor explained that Uno’s Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza is also quite different in the order they add their toppings. Traditionally, cheese is added to the crust, then the sauce, then other toppings, then topped with a bit more cheese on top.
In the class, everyone was given the freedom to add toppings to their liking. We were instructed to have fun and be as creative as we wanted.
I really wanted to learn how to make my favorite Uno’s Four Cheese Deep-Dish Pizza. They were kind enough to bring out toppings, so I could do just that. My toppings include pesto sauce, mozzarella & cheddar cheese mixture, mozzarella & feta cheese mixture, and chopped tomatoes.
To make my pizza, I was instructed to spread the pesto sauce on the crust, add most of both cheese mixtures (reserving some for the very top), then add the tomatoes, then top with the remaining cheese.
The Finished Masterpiece
Our pizzas were taken to the back for baking. We were served amazing salads to start off our meal as we waited. After finishing our salads, our masterpieces arrived and we were able to fully enjoy the fruits of our labor.
In conclusion, I don’t think I could have enjoyed the class any more than I did. It was an amazing and insightful experience, to learn just how to make my favorite pizza. The staff and instructor were organized, friendly, informative and couldn’t have been more accommodating to everyone’s special requested during the class.
Uno’s Deep Dish Cooking School is available in Union Station (DC), Orlando, Pizzeria Uno (Chicago), Braintree (MA), Boylston St. (Boston), and Columbus Ave (NYC). If you’re interested in learning more about the classes you can find out more at Uno’s Pizzeria & Grill.
