Malnati estimates its lean-meat-to-fat ratio at about 90/10, when the standard is closer to 80/20 or 75/25. The Italian sausage at Lou Malnati’s differs from most in that it’s relatively lean. It was just passed on from family to family.” But “I think it became a habit,” Malnati says. Of course, that poem was published a century ago, and the Union Stock Yards closed in 1971. “The fact that pork was prominent in Chicago back then led to (sausage) being a staple.” That theory certainly checks out with poet Carl Sandburg, who memorably dubbed our city “Hog Butcher for the World” in his 1914 piece “Chicago.” “I think it started with the Union Stock Yards a couple generations ago,” he says. Malnati has a theory about Italian sausage’s local popularity. “We buy a couple million pounds of sausage a year,” Malnati says. What does that mean for a restaurant chain with 48 locations in the Chicagoland area, plus three in Arizona? To help better understand this sausage-fueled hysteria, I reached out to four local pizza restaurateurs to figure out why Italian sausage rules Chicago.Īccording to the owner of Lou Malnati’s, Marc Malnati, Italian sausage is “by far the most popular topping” at his restaurants. Many places either make the ground pork mixture in house or have a trusted local butcher shop make it for them. (Don’t call it healthy, but it is gluten-free.)Īnd this isn’t just any Italian sausage. ![]() Not to be outdone, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria offers a “crustless pizza,” on which the dough is completely replaced by a thick base of Italian sausage. At Gino’s East you can order Italian sausage flattened into a thin disc so big that it covers the entire pizza. To be blunt, Chicagoans are obsessed with the stuff. Italian sausage enjoys a popularity at odds with the rest of the country. ![]() That’s a slice of pepperoni pizza.īut stop by many cherished pizzerias in Chicago, and it’s a different story. In poll after poll, pepperoni has the No. Topped with Greco sausage and California tomatoes plus whole milk mozzarella from Wisconsin, it doesn't matter that it's baked in a 60-year-old oven the key is that rising dough.Pepperoni is America’s favorite pizza topping. And we make the dough, we let it rise for a couple of hours and we make the ball," said Freddy's owner Joe Quercia. "Then we let it rise for a couple of hours then we add more flour and we add salt. Instead, go for their regular thin pizzas, which have yeast and ferment longer. In Cicero, legendary Freddy's Pizza has always made a thick, Sicilian bakery-style pizza served in rectangular pans, which I disliked. The dough rests overnight and pizzas are baked in a rotating deck oven until they emerge golden brown around the edges. In Stickney, just East of Harlem Avenue, Villa Nova produces the best tavern-style in the suburbs, which means a cracker-like crust beneath a blanket of part-skim mozzarella and pecorino romano, plus fennel sausage and deep-red pureed tomatoes. Changing the mixing times, some water absorption and the olive oil, and the coal oven, which gives you a nice dry heat," said Pizza Barra owner Rich Labriola. ![]() "Taking basically a ciabatta recipe I developed years ago and modifying it for pizza.
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