Quad City–style pizza facts for kids
This style of pizza usually has most of the toppings under the cheese.
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| Type | Pizza |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Quad Cities |
| Created by | Tony Maniscalco Sr. of Tony's Pizzeria (1952) |
| Main ingredients | Pizza dough with malt, tomato sauce with red chili flakes and cayenne, sausage, cheese |
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Quad City–style pizza is a special kind of pizza. It comes from the Quad Cities area in the United States. This region is where the states of Illinois and Iowa meet. It's known for its unique taste and how it's made.
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What Makes Quad City Pizza Special?
Quad City–style pizza has a few cool features that make it different from other pizzas:
- Crust: The dough has a special ingredient called malt. This gives the crust a toasted, nutty flavor.
- Sauce: The tomato sauce is a bit spicy. It often has red chili flakes or cayenne pepper in it.
- Toppings: Most of the toppings are placed under the cheese. This is different from many other pizzas.
- Cut: Instead of triangle slices, this pizza is cut into long, thin strips. A 16-inch pizza might have about 14 strips!
How Quad City Pizza Started
Pizza first came to the Quad Cities in 1952. A man named Tony Maniscalco Sr. brought it there. Tony's parents were from Sicily, an island in Italy. He moved to the Quad Cities from another town in Illinois. Tony used a basic recipe from the Bacino family. Then, he created the unique "Quad Cities Style Pizza" we know today.
How Quad City Pizza Is Made
Making Quad City–style pizza involves a few special steps:
- Dough: The dough is made with a lot of malt. This gives it a unique, slightly sweet and toasted taste.
- Shaping: Pizza makers hand-toss the dough. They stretch it into a thin crust, about a quarter-inch thick. The edges are a little thicker, like a small rim.
- Sauce: The sauce is smooth and thin. It's more spicy than sweet, thanks to red chili flakes and cayenne pepper.
- Sausage: If you get sausage, it's usually a thick layer of lean Italian sausage. It often has fennel for flavor. Sometimes, the sausage is ground twice and spread all the way to the edges of the pizza.
- Cooking: The pizzas are cooked in a special gas oven. It usually takes about 12 minutes to cook.
- Cutting: After cooking, the pizza is cut into strips. A 10-inch pizza might have 10 strips, while a 16-inch pizza has about 14 strips.
Where You Can Find It
This unique pizza started in the Quad Cities area of the United States. But you can find it in other places too! Some restaurants in states like Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona also make it. Even Indiana and Chicago, Illinois have places that serve this style.
You can even buy a frozen version of Quad City–style pizza. The Outsiders Pizza Company sells it in stores across the country.
