Memories and Memory Eternal

Last week the sad news came to us that Fr. Basil Caldaroni, our priest at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Post Falls, Idaho, had departed this life. He had moved on from Idaho, and his health had been poor for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago, the parish sent out a note indicating that things were probably near to the end, so while his passing wasn’t a surprise, it still is incredibly sad.

One thing I remember about Fr. Basil was that he seemed to always be smiling. It wasn’t forced, and he could be serious when the occasion warranted it, but his upbeat attitude set the tone for the church and the people around him.

He founded the parish of Holy Transfiguration Church in Warrenville, Illinois, and it was because of this that my husband first met him. To find that Fr. Basil was the priest in Post Falls as he was being considered for a job which would make Post Falls our church was the cherry on top. The time in Idaho was generally very happy, which makes the fact that the last time I saw Fr. Basil in Idaho was almost a surreal experience a sad memory.

However, he still did have connections to the Chicago area and at one point when he and Khouria Tilda were back to visit, we did manage to get together. One of the recurring topics of conversation up there in Idaho was how bad the food was and so we’d talk about what we missed from the Chicago area. The Caldaronis pointed us to a little place in Rathdrum that served Vienna Beef hot dogs. Turns out that the man who ran the place was from Chicago and Greek, so there were people that he and my husband knew in common.

We got care packages every month with Chicago food items, including frozen Lou Malnati’s pizza. Lou Malnati’s was something Fr. Basil missed, and his family had found a copycat recipe that they had tweaked which they made. When Fr. Basil and Kh. Tilda came to bless our house the one year, we had a little bit of a Malnati feast – our frozen one vs. their homemade one. Before we left back for the Midwest, they gave us a copy.

Over the years, I’ve tweaked this a bit as well. I had never had Lou Malnati’s pizza growing up, so I wasn’t as crazy over it as some people, but I still considered it very good pizza. I can’t promise that the recipe is exactly like Malnati’s, especially not having a stand mixer for the dough. Truth be told, though, after not having Lou Malnati’s pizza for many years, I think I’ve had it twice in the last year, it wasn’t very good at all. I’d much prefer having the homemade version, even with as much effort as it takes to make. I’m not saying that Fr. Basil’s legacy is a pizza recipe, to be sure, but it’s a connection to the memory of him, St. John the Baptist, and the time we spent up in glorious Idaho. Memory eternal!

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Deep Dish Pizza (“Chicago Style”)

Ingredients

Crust
2½ c all-purpose flour
½ c corn meal
¾ c semolina flour
1½ tsp table salt
2 tbsp honey
2¼ tsp (one packet) tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
1¼ c water (10oz)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp olive oil

Sauce
2 tbsp butter
¼ c grated onion
2 cloves garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dry)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
oregano, rosemary, parsley, black pepper (to taste)

Toppings
1 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
½ oz (about ¼ cup) grated Parmesean cheese
(+ your choice)

Preparing the dough:
Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, honey, and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until incorporated. Add water and melted butter and mix on low speed until fully combined, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is is glossy and smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)*

Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 teaspoon olive oil, place ball of dough in the bowl, then flip dough ball over so entire ball is coated with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, 45 to 60 minutes.

*Note – I don’t have a stand mixer, so I’m using the original instructions here. I just knead and knead until it seems sufficient.

Sauce:
While dough rises, heat butter in medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add onion, oregano, rosemary, and ½ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquit has evaporated and onion is golden brown. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes and brown sugar, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced until 2½ cups. Off heat, stir in basil, parsley, and oil, then season with salt and pepper.

Rolling and laminating the dough:
Turn dough out onto dry work surface and roll into 15″x12″ rectangle. Using offset spatula, spread softened butter over surface of dough, leaving ½” border along edges. Starting at the short end, roll dough into a tight cylinder (cinnamon-roll style). With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 18″x4″ rectangle. Cut rectangle in half crosswise (leaving two 9″x4″ pieces). Working with one half, fold in thirds, bringing each end over each other across the center. Pinch the seams together to create a ball of dough. Repeat with remaining half. Return both balls to oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in refrigerator until nearly doubled in volume, 40-50 minutes.

Coat two 9-inch round cake pans with a tablespoon of butter each. Transfer one dough ball with layers roughly horizontal to dry work surface and roll out into a 13″ circle about ¼” thick. Lightly press dough into pan, working into corners and 1″ up sides. If dough resists stretching, let it relax 5 minutes before trying again. Repeat process with second dough ball.

For each pizza sprinkle 2 cups shredded mozzarella evenly over surface of dough. Spread 1¼ cups tomato sauce over cheese. If adding additional toppings, sausage should be cooked and drained beforehand and added in a single layer over the cheese. Pepperoni should also be placed in a layer over the cheese. Vegetables should be mixed with the tomato sauce before adding to pizza. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan over sauce. Bake at 425℉ until crust is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pizza from oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

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