Damn Good Food: Gino's East Pizza Recipe (2024)

I bet you can't guess what is rising in my oven right now. I got home a little early today and put the dough together. If you look at the remnants of my original recipe, you will see all of this nonsense of making a slurry with the corn meal etc. I figured out that it doesn't really matter.

Think about it. If you are Gino's East, you want to be able to make pizza really really cheap. It also has to be so easy to make that any idiot off the street can make it for you. My old recipe was way too complicated and would be WAY too expensive to make on a large scale, so it can't be the way Gino's does it. The most distinctive thing about Gino's crust is that it is bright yellow. My problem is that I was trying to get that yellow color using corn meal, and the more corn meal I added, the more difficult it was to keep the crust from getting grainy.

I actually came to the answer to the yellow crust by way of Cuba and India. Let me explain. I was trying to make tandoori chicken for years. I could get it to taste right but I couldn't get it to turn bright red, no matter what combination of spices I used. I looked at lots of Indian cookbooks, but it wasn't until a lot later that I found a cookbook with the secret in it. Then I took a trip to Key West and at at a laundromat. I got a Cuban sandwich with yellow rice and black beans. I loved it and immediately tried to figure out how they made the yellow rice, not thinking that it would translate into a Gino's pizza crust eventually. I bought the book Cuban Home Cooking from a gift shop in Key Largo. As it turns out, yellow rice was probably based on the Spanish recipe Saffron rice. But saffron is damned expensive. To make yellow rice in Cuba, they use a powder with a couple spices and yellow food coloring! I went to a Cuban grocery store in Miami and bought 6 bottles of Badia Amarillo Yellow Coloring. Its funny because I have six bottles of it. I make yellow rice all the time and I haven't even used a tablespoon of it yet. So anyway that solved 2 problems. I figured out that Tandoori chicken is red because its got red food coloring in it, and Gino's East pizza crust is yellow because its got yellow food coloring in it. Problem solved.

A few other secrets are that they use the cheapest possible flour - H&R (hotel and restaraunt) flour. They get the dough made at an outside supplier and it arrives, refrigerated, in big containers, early in the morning. The dough waits all day to be made into pizzas. That explains why if you get a pizza there late in the evening the crust almost has the flavor of beer. It has risen so long that it begins to ferment.

Gino's East Pizza Crust Recipe

1 cup of warm water
1 package yeast
1/2 cup cornmeal or corn flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 T corn oil
2 ½ to 3 cups of cheap generic flour
Yellow food coloring – the real secret to why its yellow.

Take the water and put it in your mixer. add yeast and a touch of sugar. Let the yeast foam up to be sure that it is active. Then add the rest of the ingredients including 2 1/2 cups flour. I usually end up adding between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoons of yellow food coloring. Using a dough hook, kneed the dough until it is well combined. If the dough is sticky add a little more flour. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Let the mixer kneed the dough for 10 minutes. Put it in the oven to rise. If you desire a late in the day pizza taste (beer like), then let it rise all day.

Assembling the pizza -
Preheat oven to 350. After the dough has risen take your deep dish pizza pan (or a round cake pan with straight sides) and coat the inside of it with a very healthy coating of melted butter. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and up it in the pan. Then pinch the dough up along the sides of the pan. Now put your cheese, and I mean a lot, into the crust. Then add your pepperoni, and finally your sauce. Bake in the oven until the crust is starting to brown and cheese is starting to bubble up through the sauce. The little edges of the pepperoni should also be starting to crisp.

And thats about it. I hope everyone is watching the debates tonight, an informed public is best.

Damn Good Food: Gino's East Pizza Recipe (1)

Here is a video of the whole process...I've changed the recipe and methods just slightly so don't be alarmed.

Damn Good Food: Gino's East Pizza Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is Gino's East dough yellow? ›

So, of course, I ordered a few of those pizzas and discovered that the "secret" dough additive is cream of tartar, and the dough's yellow tint comes from beta-carotene, a natural source of yellow.

What kind of cheese does Gino's pizza use? ›

Weighing in at two pounds each and crafted by hand in Wisconsin, using chunky tomato sauce, gooey mozzarella cheese and our restaurant style golden brown crust, these pizzas are the real deal. Make sure to tag us, @GinosEast, so we can share your great photos!

How big is a Gino's East frozen pizza? ›

This product is handmade to The Original Gino's East of Chicago specifications. Gino's trademark golden crust is topped with their special tomato sauce and layers of aged cheese to create Chicago's iconic deep dish slice. This package includes 5 cheese pizzas. Each pizza is 32 oz; 9" in diameter and serves 3-4 people.

What happened to the original Gino's East? ›

Gino's East served deep dish pizza at 162 E. Superior St., a block from the Magnificent Mile, from 1966 until 2000. In 2000, the building was torn down due to structural issues. The restaurant moved to the 600 block of North Wells just two days later.

Does Gino's East use cornmeal? ›

Enjoy.” -Heath H. “There's no semolina or corn meal in Gino's East dough formulation. You are missing some yellow food coloring (eggshade) to get the yellow color Gino's crust has. The oil blend should be corn oil and extra virgin olive oil in that 8:1 ratio.

What are the ingredients in Gino's pizza sauce? ›

Tomato Puree (water, Tomato Paste), Diced Tomatoes In Tomato Juice, Water, Sugar, Salt, Onions, Garlic, Red Peppers, Basil, Oregano.

What is the gooey cheese on pizza? ›

Mozzarella. Perhaps the most well-known and popular pizza topping of all-time, Mozzarella is cherished for its near perfect consistency and straightforward flavour. As a tasty browned top, flavours are mild and fresh with a creamy consistency that is sure to leave you wanting more.

What is the best stringy cheese for pizza? ›

A combo of mozzarella and provolone offers both stretch and flavor; in fact, many pizzerias use just this blend. If stretch isn't important but you still favor an ooey-gooey melted cheese experience, any of the other tested cheeses should suit you just fine. Cheddar, fontina, Muenster, Gouda, etc.

What makes Italian pizza dough different? ›

Italians take extra care and time to create their pizza dough. They allow the dough to sit and rise for three days to make it light and fluffy. They're also very particular about using high-quality ingredients to create a mouthwatering dish.

Does Gino's East ship? ›

A: We offer several shipping methods! Through Goldbelly, we offer standard shipping, which arrives in 3-5 business days. We also offer two expedited shipping options if you are looking to get your pizza fast!

Who makes Papa Gino's frozen pizza? ›

The new frozen pizza is created at ACMC's state-of-the-art food production facilities in Lawrence, Massachusetts, using authentic ingredients, made in Stone Hearth Ovens and placed in blast circular freezers to preserve quality.

How many calories are in a Gino's East deep dish pizza? ›

What are Nutritionix Track app users eating from Gino's East of Chicago?
Product NameCalories
Deep Dish Pizza, Meaty Legend 1 slice380
Handmade All Natural Kosher Spinach Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza 1 slice240
Meaty Legend 1 slice350
Pepperoni Pizza 1 slice320
11 more rows

Why is my pizza dough yellow? ›

Proper proofing will result in dough that's yellow in color. Under-proofed dough will be a shade of white that's close to the color when frozen. Over-proofed dough will appear gray instead of yellow. Proofed size is 1.5 to 2x larger than the frozen dough ball.

Why is my pizza crust yellow? ›

Pizza Crust Issue #1: Underbaked Crust

When your pizza is brown in a few spots but the crust color is predominantly white or yellowish, your oven simply isn't hot enough. There isn't enough heat built up on the baking surface to get the desired browning.

Why is dough yellow? ›

The reaction of glucose and oxygen, enzymatically catalyzed by an oxidoreductase enzyme (e.g., glucose oxidase), produces hydrogen peroxide as a reaction by-product. Hydrogen peroxide, at certain concentrations, can tend to produce a generally undesired yellowish discoloration of a dough composition.

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