St. Louis style pizza is a style of pizza unique to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The pizza has several distinct characteristics that set it apart from other pizzas: the thin crust that is made without yeast, the use of Provel cheese, and the fact that the pizza is cut into rectangular or square slices. The pizza is also saltier with more oregano than typical pizza. The pizza sauce for the St. Louis pizza is sweeter than common pizza sauce is.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis-style_pizza

Provel cheese is a combination of 3 kinds of cheese: Provolone cheese, white cheddar, and Swiss cheese into one cheese. Although authentic St. Louis pizza is made with Provel cheese, you can combine one or two of these cheeses if you can’t find true Provel cheese. You can also use ordinary frozen pizza dough and stretch it to make thin crust instead of making a non-yeast pizza crust.

Aside from its distinct characteristics, St. Louis style pizza is siimlar to other pizzas. It can hold a lot of toppings, which means that you can add your favorite toppings to the pizza, such as pepperoni, sausages, mushrooms, olives, and bell peppers.

Below, you can find a recipe to make authentic St. Louis style pizza, step by step from scratch.

‘’’For the Crust’’’

• 2 cups and 2 tbsp all-purpose flourhttp://recipes.howstuffworks.com/missouri-imos-pizza-st-louis-style-recipe.htm
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp oil
• 2 tsp corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water

‘’’For the Sauces and Toppings’’’

• 2 cups canned whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup of white Cheddar
• 1/2 cup smoky cheese
• 1/2 cup Provolone cheesehttp://www.recipezaar.com/imos-pizza-recipe-st-louis-style-pizza-380004
• 3/4 cup of mushroomshttp://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1850,156175-248192,00.html
• 1 green bell pepper
• Pepperoni, to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients and work them until they form a solid ball. Do not knead the ball. The crust will be quite stiff compared to ordinary pizza dough. In fact, you will find that the crust will probably taste like crackers.
2. Roll the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is very thin. You will get a 2 12’’ pizza crusts from this recipe.
3. Oil a pizza stone or a thin baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal or polenta.
4. Carefully, transfer the crusts to the baking sheet or pizza stone.

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Slice the mushrooms and bell pepper thinly. You can also add more vegetables or toppings of your choice.
3. Make the sauce: process the canned tomato with the tomato paste in a food processor or blender with half of the oregano and basil, thyme, sugar, salt.
4. Grate all the cheeses and toss them together.
5. Spread the tomato sauce on top of the pizza crust.
6. Add the pepperoni or other meat of your choice and the vegetables. If you use raw meat, it is a good idea to cook the meat before you use it as toppings.
7. Top with the grated cheese.
8. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the crust is dark golden brown.