Imo's Pizza Recipe (st. Louis Style Pizza)

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dark corn syrup
• 1/2 cup tbsps water
• 2 tablespoons water
• 16 ounces whole tomatoes (diced into fine pieces)
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup provolone cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon liquid hickory liquid smoke
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Recipe

• 1 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.
• 2 in order to move the crusts around a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal works well.
• 3 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.
• 4 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.
• 5 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.
• 6 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.
• 7 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.
• 8 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.
• 9 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.
• 10 seasonings: combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and blend well.
• 11 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.
• 12 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.