St. Louis Style Pizza

I’ve always been a big fan of making pizza for my family. If I could have it my way, I would probably eat pizza on a daily basis. I love it that much. The great thing about pizza is you can make it your own. Everything from the dough to the sauce to the toppings. That’s what I truly love about it. I’ve been trying to master my artisanal dough for some time now, and I think I am getting really close, but recently I found out about a pizza dough that was no mess, no fuss, and it’s coined as St. Louis style pizza. I was intrigued, and pleasantly surprised.

This dough has a few simple ingredients; flour, salt, water, oil. No yeast. I love blooming yeast, but no yeast, no rise? I’m in. This time.

Let’s get started. By the way, my wife really liked this crust. That’s always a good sign, and well, so did I.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of unbleached, self-rising flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• Approximately 3/4 cups of water
• parchment paper
• Pam cooking spray
• 1 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 slices of baby swiss cheese
• 1 cup smoked provolone cheese, shredded
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• Your favorite pizza sauce
• Your favorite pizza toppings
• Pizza sheet

Start by making your dough. To a mixing bowl, add the flour, water, salt and mix until you have a somewhat slightly smooth dough, nothing too tough. Add a bit more water at a time until you get a somewhat smooth consistency.

Let the dough rest in the bowl, for about 20 minutes or so.

During this time, get your prep work done. Get your pizza ingredients ready, and more importantly, if you cannot find shredded cheeses, like I could not (especially in Wisconsin!), then you will need to add the cheeses to a food process, and pulse down until all is shredded.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Divide your dough into 2 balls.

Get 2 sheets of parchment paper out, large enough to roll out the dough into about 1/4 inch thin. The thinner the better.

Spray each sheet of parchment paper with the PAM cooking spray, or lightly lube with oil.

Lay a ball of dough down, then top with the other sheet of parchment paper, lube side facing down, and lightly roll the ball with a rolling pin. Gently roll into a circular shape, going thin.

Spray the pizza sheet with the cooking spray as well, enough to cover the dough.

Place the thinly, rolled out dough onto the cooking sheet, then slather on the pizza sauce. Shower the sauce with the Italian seasoning, cover with the cheese, and your favorite toppings. Add a bit more cheese to hold things together, then place into the oven and cook for about 18-20 minutes or until the crust is a nice, golden brown and the cheese is melted.

The goal here, with St. Louis style pizza, is to cut into squares. That’s St. Louis style, along with that cheese blend, and that pizza dough. Keep that in mind.

Once cut, dig in.

The result is pretty darn awesome. Super crispy, not heavy, and in my book, really comforting and quick. I’ve done tortilla pizzas in the past, but this throw together dough probably has me hooked. My wife was hooked as well, and in my book, that is always an awesome thing.