Chicago Italians

James Belushi was born June 15, 1954 in Chicago but grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the third of four children of Adam Belushi,  and Agnes, who was born in the U.S. of
A dedicated husband and father he resides in Los Angeles with his wife - Jennifer; 2 sons - Robert ( '81) and Jared ('02) and a daughter - Jamison ('99).    Jim is currently starring in his own sitcom, titled  According to Jim, which can be seen at it's regular time slot on the ABC network and 5 days a week in syndication.

Another Chicago Class Act
Date of Birth: November 13, 1947

"I never lose sight of the fact that I'm in a line of work that is, essentially, other people's fantasies."

Born Joseph Anthony Mantegna Jr., Joe and his big brother Ronald were brought up in Chicago, Illinois. When he was eight, he contracted rheumatic fever, and was sent to a charity sanatorium for five months to recover. He attended Morton East High School in Cicero when he met his future wife, actress Arlene Vrhel.

After high school, Joe went to Morton Junior College and in two years, he won a scholarship to the Goodman Theater School in DePaul University. In 1969 he met up with Vrhel again. The two began dating when both were cast in a production of Hair, and married six years later in 1975. They presently have two daughters, Mia Marie, born 1987 and Gina born 1991.

Mantegna received a number of awards for his work on stage and in television and film. He won an award for his role in Bleacher Bums from the New York Dramatics Guild in 1979.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until 1984 that audiences began to notice him. He made his breakthrough with his stage role as Ricky Roma in Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he won a Tony for Best Featured Actor and the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actor, and shared the 1984 award for Outstanding Ensemble from the Special Drama Desk Awards.

From his success in theater, he transferred his energy to film. Although he began with smaller roles, his patience would pay off when in 1988, he won Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival for his portrayal of a two-bit gangster in Things Change (1988).

Since then, he has been getting roles in largely mediocre films, but at times can also be found in big hits including Godfather III (1990), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) and Thinner (1996). He has starred in television series such as Joan of Arcadia from 2003 to 2005, and on Criminal Minds. He also works on the big screen in films such as Witless Protection (2008).

The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza that many people love was invented at Pizzeria Uno, in Chicago, in 1943, reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the famous recipe.


The pizza's foundation is simple. It uses a thick layer of dough (made with olive oil and cornmeal) that is formed to a deep round pan and pulled up the sides. The pizza crust is then parbaked before the toppings are added to give it greater spring.



Parbaking is a cooking technique in which a bread or dough product is partially baked and then rapidly frozen or cooled. The raw dough is baked as if normal, but halted at about 80% of the normal cooking time, when it is rapidly cooled and frozen. The partial cooking kills the yeast in the bread mixture, and sets the internal structure of the proteins and starches (the spongy texture of the bread), so that it is now essentially cooked inside, but not so far as to have generated "crust" or other externally desirable qualities that are difficult to preserve once fully cooked.



The crust is then covered with cheese (generally sliced mozzarella) and covered with meats and/or vegetables such as Italian sausage, onions, and bell peppers. A sauce consisting of crushed or pureed tomatoes is then added. Usually this is topped with a grated cheese blend to add additional flavor. On the usual pizza, about a pound of cheese is added. Because of the amount of ingredients in this style of pizza, it is usually eaten with a knife and fork. It's quite messy to eat with your fingers.



In addition to Uno, additional famous deep-dish restaurants include Uno's companion restaurant Due, which was opened just down the block by Sewell in 1955. However, a year before, in 1954, The Original Gino's Pizza, located on Rush Street, opened its doors, and 12 years later in 1966, Gino's East opened. Other deep dish restaurants include Edwardo's, Connie's, Giordano's, Carmen's, Pizano's (which is owned by Rudy Malnati's son, Rudy Jr.), and Lou Malnati's (which was begun by another of Rudy Malnati's sons and is now run by his grandsons and has 26 Chicago area locations).



Chicago deep-dish pizza is famous throughout the world. Accordingly, many Chicago deep-dish pizza restaurants will ship their pizzas, partially baked, within the continental U.S.



In the mid-1970s, two Chicago chains, Nancy's, founded by Rocco Palese, and Giordano's began experimenting with deep dish pizza and created the stuffed pizza. Palese based his creation on his mother's recipe for scarciedda, an Italian Easter pie from his hometown of Potenza. A Chicago Magazine article featuring Giordano's stuffed pizza popularized the dish. Other pizzerias that make stuffed pizzas include Bacino's, Edwardo's and Carmen's. Most also make thin crust pizzas.



Stuffed pizzas are often even taller than deep-dish pizzas, but otherwise, it can be hard to see the difference until you cut into it. A stuffed pizza generally has much higher topping density than any other type of pizza. As with deep-dish pizza, a thin layer of dough forms a bowl in a high-sided pan and the toppings and cheese are added. Then, an additional layer of dough goes on top and is pressed to the sides of the bottom crust.



At this stage of the process, the thin dough top has a rounded, domed appearance. Pizza makers often puncture a small hole in the top of the "pizza lid" to allow air and steam to escape while cooking. This allows the pizza sauce to permeate through the pie. Pizza sauce is added to the top crust layer and the pizza is then baked.



Chicago pan pizza in Chicago is similar to the traditional deep-dish style pizza served in other areas of the country, and baked in a similar deep-sided pan, but its crust is quite thick -- a cross between the buttery crisp crust and focaccia. Toppings and cheese frequently go on the top of a pan pizza, rather than under the sauce as is traditionally the case with deep-dish and stuffed pizza. The placement of the cheese and toppings on top make the pan pizza variety similar to a thin-crust pizza with a thicker and larger crust.



In addition to Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, there is also a thin-crust pizza unique to Chicago, sometimes referred to as "flat pizza". The crust is thin and firm, usually with a crunchy texture, unlike a New York-style pizza, yet thick enough to be soft and doughy on the top.



The crust is topped with a liberal quantity of Italian style tomato sauce. This type of sauce is usually seasoned with herbs or and highly spiced. Typically there are no visible chunks of tomato in the crust. A layer of toppings is added, and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese.



Chicago style pizza has a rich and famous heritage and admirers from all over the world. If you're a pizza lover and you've never tried this type of pizza, be sure to give it a try, I'm absolutely convinced that you will love it!