Name: Authentic Chicago-Style Pizza Pillow Puff
Cook time: P0Y0M0DT0H55M0.000S
Total time: P0Y0M0DT1H50M0.000S
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 5 tablespoons lard or butter; 1 cup hot water; 1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage or hot Italian sausage links, removed from the casings; 1/2 cup pizza sauce; 8 oz freshly shredded whole milk, low-moisture mozzarella; 1 tablespoon toasted fennel seeds; 1 quart vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

For the homemade flour tortillas: Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add the lard or butter and then the hot water. Combine with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough begins to form into a bowl.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 to 2 minutes into a smooth dough ball. Return to the bowl and cover with a towel; let rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten out the dough ball and portion into 8 equal wedges or slices. Roll each portion out to a 10- to 12-inch round. Dust with a little flour and set aside with parchment in between layers of the raw tortillas.

For the pillow puffs: Set a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the sausage in the skillet and break it up with a wooden spoon until fine. (You want this sausage nice and crumbly, not in large chunks.) Cook until golden brown and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate. Let cool completely.

Mix the cooled sausage with the pizza sauce in a medium bowl. You do not want this mixture too wet, so go easy—you just want to kiss it with some pizza sauce.

Time to fold! Place a tortilla on a work surface. In the upper half of the round, place about 2 tablespoons cheese, about 2 tablespoons of the sausage mixture, a sprinkling of toasted fennel seeds and another tablespoon of cheese.

Fold the top quarter of the tortilla down over the sausage and cheese layers. Fold the left third to the right and fold the right third over that. Fold the rectangle down so that a short, rounded flap remains on the bottom. Fold the flap up over the packet. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, cheese and filling.

These can be fried fresh or from frozen. If you are making ahead, freeze them flat on a sheet pan and, once they are frozen, place in a resealable plastic bag to store for up to 1 month.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, or use a deep-fryer. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Working in batches, fry the pillows until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes if fresh, or about 10 minutes if frozen.

Place on a sheet pan fitted with a wire rack and keep warm in the oven. Serve in a thin white french-fry style paper bag.

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