Week #24: Missouri - St. Louis Style Pizza

St Louis Style Pizza Cut in Squares

State:  Missouri

Missouri is home to barbecue, the St. Louis Cardinals & Rams, and supposedly, they have their own specialty pizza.  At first, I wasn't going to recreate their pizza until I looked at the different types of cheese they add to this.  I thought, with all that cheese, it has to be good.  I am glad I did, because it was really good.  This is the same style pizza that you would buy from Imo's in St. Louis.  Missouri, I hope I did you proud with this pizza!

Ingredients:

1 pizza crust

1 can of tomato sauce

1 tbsp of olive oil

1/4 cup of shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of shredded smoked, picante, or regular provolone ( I did regular)

1/4 lb of sliced Swiss cheese (recipe calls for shredded)

1/2 lb of cooked pork sausage

1 tbsp of onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp of garlic powder or minced garlic

Sauce:

For the sauce, mix the tomato sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and onion powder all together.  Heat for 5-10 minutes or until mixture is completely blended.  I like the seasonings to cook into the sauce.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Meat:

Cook ground pork until all pink is gone.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and set aside.  

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Apply thin layer of olive oil to the crust and then coat the base of the crust with the tomato sauce mixture.  Now we are ready for the toppings.  Add the slices of Swiss cheese on the base of the pizza.  You can do the shredded way if you want, but I decided to go with slices just to save additional money.  Next, add the sausage and spread all over the pizza.  Then, add your shredded provolone and then the cheddar.  After all the cheese has been added to the top of the pizza, apply pepper and Italian seasoning to your preference.  Place into the oven and cook for 10-15 minutes or until crust has browned and cheese is turned orange or so.  

Pairing:

When you think of Missouri, you think of Anheuser-Busch Beer Company. Unless you like craft beer!!!  In Kansas City, MO, Boulevard Brewing Company is making some really good beers and you can buy them in Florida which is great too!  I had the Calling IPA, which is an Indian Pale Ale around 8%.  I thought it wasn't bad and actually prefer their Farm House Ale more than the IPA.  For wine, go for something refreshing and a tad sweet, like a Pinot Grigio to balance out the acidity.  

Learning Moments:

Overall, I really enjoyed this pizza.  The power of cheese really does have power!!  The different tastes of cheese made this pizza killer!  I might have to try smoked Gouda next time.  A good learning moment that I had when making this pizza was that you have to be careful with salt.  If you add salt to the sauce and the meat, you may want to reduce it down a little than your normal taste.  The reason being is that cheese has a lot of sodium and you don't want your food to come out too salty.  Luckily for me, my pizza was not too salty.  Again, I really enjoyed this pizza and love what they are doing with it in St. Louis!  I hope you try it sometime.  Cheers!