Cooks Country St Louis Style Pizza Recipes

IMO'S PIZZA RECIPE (ST. LOUIS STYLE PIZZA)

Steps:

• Crust: Mix until thoroughly combined - Dough will be very stiff. makes enough for two (2) 12" pizza pies. The dough is ready to use "as-is" No need to rise or kneed. Divide the dough in half, shape into a round ball and roll out paper thin.
• In order to move the crusts around a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal works well.
• After the crust, it's the sauce that begins the first real steps towards forming the total Imo's pizza experience. Imos uses a tomato sauce mixture that has a sweet taste, but it's not so overly sweet to hide the rich tomato flavor or spices.
• Sauce:Combine together and it's ready to use - do not pre-cook the sauce! This Makes enough sauce for about four (4) 12" pizza pies, so that should give you some idea of how much to use on each pizza.
• On top of the sweet sauce Imo's uses Provel Cheese, which is simply a blend of Cheddar, Swiss and Provolone cheeses with some liquid smoke flavoring. If you can't find Provel in your local market, it can be easily created.
• Cheese:Toss until cheeses and smoke flavoring are completely incorporated. Typically it's enough cheese for two (2) 12" pizza pies, but if you like extra-cheese you'll want to make more.
• Authentic Imo's pizza toppings include: Extra-Cheese, Onion, Green Pepper, Sausage, Hamburger, Pepperoni, Anchovy, Bacon, Black Olive, Mushroom, Canadian Bacon, Jalapenos, Pineapple, Banana Peppers, and Tomatoes.
• In a professional pizza oven the meat toppings (Hamburger, Sausage, Bacon, etc.) can usually be put on raw, but at home you'll want to fully precook the meat before assembling the pizza.
• Now you have the correct style crust, sweet sauce, smoky cheese, generous toppings, it's now ready to be lightly sprinkled with some Italian seasonings.
• Seasonings: Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and blend well.
• While in the restaurant the pizza is baked in a pizza pan, at home you'll have the best results using a pizza stone and an oven temperature around 450 degrees. If you don't have a pizza stone, use the thinnest baking sheet you have and the lowest over rack position. The pizza is done when the underside of the crust is a dark golden brown, and the cheese is has a slight golden tint to it. Underbaking the crust will result in a limp crust, overbaking will result in a hard, tough, burnt-tasting crust, getting the right baking time to produce a crisp crust will require a bit of experimentation. The amount and type of toppings you use will also affect the total baking time. A rule-of-thumb is to check the pizza after about 10-12 minutes and adjust baking time from there accordingly.
• And, as a final touch to truly replicate Imo's Pizza at home, is to cut the pizza into tile-like squares instead of the traditional triangle slices.

ST. LOUIS STYLE PIZZA

Steps:

• Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 450ºF.

CHICAGO STYLE THIN CRUST PIZZA

Steps:

• Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, then drizzle the water and work it into the dry ingredients until a sticky dough forms.
• Continue working the dough until smooth, adding more water or flour as necessary.
• Coat the dough with a little olive oil. Divide it in half and form two discs. Divide it into fourths for smaller, individual pizzas.
• Wrap the portions of dough in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you prepare the sauce and toppings.
• Combine the shallot, garlic and basil in a food processor and blend until chopped.
• Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Taste and adjust red pepper flakes, honey and oregano to your liking. This makes an abundance of sauce (more than you'll need for two pizzas) and it freezes beautifully.
• When using the sauce from a frozen state, drain off the excess liquid by placing some paper towels over the sauce once it's thawed.
• Turn the oven on to 425 degrees and place a pizza stone or pan on the middle rack of the oven.
• Brown the sausage and add the fennel, salt and pepper. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.
• Sauté the vegetables and the salt and pepper in your fat of choice (ghee, butter, olive oil, etc.) for 7-10 minutes over medium - low heat. Remove to cool.
• Add the pepperoni to the pan and cook on each side for 1-2 minutes to release the oil and moisture. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.
• Roll out the dough as thinly as possible on a floured surface to approximately 12 inches. Carefully transfer the dough onto the pizza stone that's been warming in the oven. Place the crust in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or until you can lift an edge and the entire crust comes off the stone (it won't be completely done; just sturdy throughout).
• Remove the crust with a wooden pizza peel. Flip it over onto a cutting board or sheet pan.
• Add the sauce, then the pepperoni. Spread the cheese evenly over the sauce and pepperoni, then top with the sausage, peppers, onion and mushrooms.
• Slide the pizza into the oven directly on the rack (not on the stone) and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, bubbly and brown.
• If you need assistance removing the pizza from the oven with the pizza peel, carefully use tongs or a heavy spatula to get the pizza on the board.
• Remove and top with oregano. Cool for ten minutes, then slice and enjoy!

COOKS COUNTRY ST. LOUIS-STYLE PIZZA

Steps:

• Whisk together tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil and 1T sugar and oregano in a small bowl; set aside.
• Toss cheeses with liquid smoke in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Combine flour, cornstarch, 2 tsp sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine water and olive oil in measuring cup. Stir water mixture into flour mixture until dough starts to come together. Turn dough onto slightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times, until cohesive.
• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place pizza stone (or inverted baking sheet) on rack and heat oven to 475 degrees.
• Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, press into small circle and transfer to parchment paper dusted lightly with flour. Using rolling pin, roll and stretch dough to form 12" circle, rotating parchment as needed. Lift parchement and pizza off work surface onto inverted baking sheet (not one in the oven).
• Top each piece of dough with half of the sauce and half of cheese. Carefully pull parchment off of baking sheet onto hot oven stone. Bake until underside is golden brown and cheese is completely melted, 9-12 minutes. Remove pizza and parchment from oven. Transfer pizza to cooling rack and let cool a few minutes. Assemble and bake second pizza. Cut into 2" squares. Serve.
• Note - dough can be made in advance. Once mixed tightly wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate up to 2 days.
• Variation - If you would like to add pepperoni arrange them on a paper towel lined plate, cover with paper towl and microwave 2 minutes. Let cool. Add to pizza either before or after cheese.

DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA

Steps:

• Put the pizza dough in a large bowl and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until the dough is slightly puffy, 30 minutes.
• Spread the butter all over the inside of a metal 9-by-13-inch pan and put the dough in the middle. Starting from the middle of the dough and using your fingertips, push the dough out to the corners of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until puffy and doubled in thickness, about 1 hour. Push the dough all the way to the edges, recover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees F. Place a baking sheet on the rack to preheat.
• Combine the tomatoes and tomato paste in a blender and blend until smooth. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and soft but not brown. Add the tomato mixture, oregano, chile flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup water, bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low and cook until thick, about 15 minutes.
• Uncover the dough and cover evenly with the pepperoni. Sprinkle about 2 cups of the Cheddar evenly along the edges of the pizza. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar over the rest of the pizza, then top the entire pizza with the Havarti and scallions.
• Put the pan on the preheated baking sheet and bake the pizza until the edges are golden and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
• Loosen the sides and bottom of the pizza with a metal spatula and slide onto a cutting board. Spoon the sauce in 4 thick crosswise lines over the pizza. Cut into squares and serve.