Cooks Country St Louis Style Pizza Recipes

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.

TRUE CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP-DISH PIZZA

Steps:

• Mix sugar, yeast and 11 ounces room temperature water (about 80 degrees) in a bowl and let bloom for 15 minutes. Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Once yeast has bloomed, add to dry ingredients along with corn oil. Gently combine with a rubber spatula until a rough ball is formed.
• Knead on low speed with the dough hook for 90 seconds. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and proof until doubled in size, about 6 hours. Punch down and let dough settle for 15 more minutes.
• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Coat bottom and sides of a 12-inch cake pan or traditional Chicago style pizza pan with melted butter. Using your hands, spread out about three-quarters of the dough across the bottom and up the sides of the pan (save the remainder for another use). Cover entire bottom in mozzarella, all the way up to the edge. Cover half with a thin, even layer of raw sausage. Cover the other half with the pepperoni. Top with a couple handfuls of crushed tomatoes. Spread out with hands to the edge. Sprinkle top evenly with grated Parm.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until golden around the edge, about 25 minutes. Let rest for about 5 minutes, then either gently lift pizza out of pan or just cut your slice out of the pan like a pie!

ITALIAN-STYLE PIZZAS

Steps:

• Place crusts on an ungreased baking sheet; spread with pesto. Layer with mozzarella cheese, onion, mushrooms and peppers; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400° until cheese is melted, 10-12 minutes.

DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA

Steps:

• Pour warm water into the bowl of stand mixer; mix in yeast and sugar and let dissolve. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil, salt, and bread flour. Knead mixture together with a dough hook attachment until dough is very smooth, soft, and elastic.
• Drizzle remaining olive oil over the bottom of a 10x14-inch Detroit-style pizza pan and spread around with your fingers. Place dough in the center; pull and stretch into a roughly rectangular shape with oiled fingers. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Prepare sauce and cheese in the meantime.
• Combine marinara sauce, oregano, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer to fully hydrate the oregano and garlic, about 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 500 to 550 degrees F (260 to 288 degrees C).
• Dice Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheese into small cubes. Toss lightly to mix together.
• Rub fingertips with some olive oil from the pan. Press out air from the dough while stretching and pushing into a rectangle that goes all the way to the edges of the pan. Stretch up the sides about 1/2 inch or so.
• Lay most of the pepperoni onto the dough. Scatter cheese cubes evenly on top, making sure to fully cover all the edges where dough meets the pan. Ladle sauce on top in 3 long strips. Arrange remaining pepperoni over the sauce.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pizza is somewhere between golden brown and golden black, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.
• Very carefully slide pizza onto a cutting board using a spatula. Cut into individual pieces using the lines of sauce as a guide.

ST. LOUIS STYLE PIZZA

Steps:

• Crust: Mix until thoroughly combined. 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. 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 Cheese: Toss until cheeses and smoke flavoring are completely incorporated. It's enough cheese for two (2) 12" pizza pies. Now it's ready to be lightly sprinkled with some Italian seasonings. Seasonings: Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and blend well. 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.

CHICAGO-STYLE PAN PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Crumble the sausage into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until evenly browned. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon, and sprinkle over the dough crust. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese evenly over the sausage.
• Add mushrooms and onion to the skillet; cook and stir until the onion is tender. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano, salt, fennel seed and garlic powder. Spoon over the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.
• Bake for 25 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crust is golden brown.