Quad City Style
intro
A beloved regional Midwestern pizza with chewy malted crust, tangy spiced sauce, crumbled spicy sausage, and signature easy-to-hold strip slices from the Iowa-Illinois Quad Cities.
Ingredients
Steps
Mix and proof dough
In a large mixing bowl, combine 180ml warm (43°C/110°F) water, 30ml malt syrup, and 7g instant yeast; let sit 5 minutes until foamy. Add 360g bread flour, 5g kosher salt, and 15ml olive oil, mix until a shaggy dough forms, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise in a warm (24°C/75°F) spot for 90 minutes until doubled in size.
Preheat oven and prep peel
Adjust oven rack to the middle position, set a 16-inch pizza stone (or heavy-gauge baking sheet) on the rack, and preheat the oven to 260°C (500°F) for 30 full minutes, starting the preheat during the final 30 minutes of dough proofing to save time. Lightly dust a wooden pizza peel with 1 tablespoon (10g) coarse cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking during transfer.
Stretch dough to shape
Punch down the fully proofed dough to release trapped air, then transfer to the cornmeal-dusted pizza peel. Press and stretch the dough into an even 15-inch round, creating a 1/2-inch thick raised edge around the perimeter; the center of the crust should be 1/4-inch thick, with no thin tears or holes. Let the stretched dough rest for 5 minutes to prevent shrinkage during baking.
Layer sauce and toppings
In a small bowl, mix 240ml crushed tomatoes, 32g tomato paste, 1g dried oregano, 1.5g garlic powder, 1g red pepper flakes, and 1g crushed fennel seed to make the sauce. Spread an even, thin layer of the sauce over the dough, leaving the raised crust edge bare. Top sauce evenly with 227g shredded low-moisture mozzarella, then crumble 340g spicy Italian sausage (broken into pea-sized pieces) in an even layer across the cheese, with no large clumps.
Bake until crisp and golden
Carefully slide the assembled pizza from the peel directly onto the preheated hot pizza stone. Bake for 12–14 minutes at 260°C (500°F), until the raised crust edge is deep golden brown and crispy, cheese is fully melted and bubbling with scattered browned spots, and the crumbled sausage is cooked through with crisped edges. If using a baking sheet instead of a stone, bake for 14–16 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees at the 7-minute mark for even browning.
Cut into signature strips
Use the pizza peel to transfer the baked pizza from the oven to a large wooden cutting board. Sprinkle the hot raised crust edge evenly with 28g (1/4 cup) grated Parmesan cheese. Let the pizza rest for 3 minutes to set the cheese and toppings, then use a sharp pizza cutter to first slice the pie into 4 equal wide wedges, then cut each wedge crosswise into 1.5-inch wide rectangular strips (the iconic Quad City cut, no triangular slices). Serve immediately.
Tips
2.Crumble raw sausage into tiny, pea-sized pieces instead of pre-cooking it or leaving large clumps; this allows the sausage fat to render into the cheese and crust as it bakes for even, juicy, authentic flavor.
3.Keep the sauce layer thin—slathering on too much sauce will make the chewy malted crust soggy during high-heat baking, a common mistake for first-time makers.
OMG, I grew up in Moline and have been chasing that perfect Quad City pizza taste since I moved to Chicago 8 years ago. This recipe is IT!!! The malt in the crust, the spicy sausage, the cut into strips instead of triangles—my whole family was transported back to weekend trips to Happy Joe’s when we were kids. Took a little extra time to get the crust stretched right the first time, but totally worth the effort. Game changer for our Friday pizza nights!
Solid recipe! Cook time was a little longer than I expected for a weeknight, so I prepped the dough the night before and let it do a slow rise in the fridge, which cut down on day-of work a ton. My kids loved the strip cuts—they said it was way easier to dip in ranch than regular triangle slices. Only knock is I wish the recipe noted how much fennel is in the traditional sausage mix, I guessed and added a little too much which made it pretty licorice-y for my youngest. Will absolutely make again though!
SO good! I swapped the spicy sausage for roasted mushrooms and veggie pepperoni to make it vegetarian-friendly for my partner, and that chewy, slightly sweet crust still held up perfectly. Brought half of it to my office potluck yesterday and people were begging for the recipe before I even left. Don’t be intimidated by the medium difficulty label, the steps are super straightforward even if you’re not a regular bread maker!
I’ve made this three times in the last two weeks, no joke. First time I messed up the crust by rolling it too thin, it got crispy all the way through instead of having that soft, pillowy edge, but the last two times I nailed it. My husband is from Davenport and he said it tastes exactly like the pizza he got growing up going to his high school football game concession stands. Total home run, this is going in our regular meal prep rotation for Sunday dinners!