Spicy Sausage and Ricotta Pizza
Spicy Sausage and Ricotta Pizza
Italian sausage is my favorite meat topping on a pizza. The big debate with sausage is whether you put it raw on a pizza or cooked. I’ve seen both, and here’s my opinion: I prefer the sausage to be cooked. The reason why is that I don’t want any more excess grease on my pizza than needed. By cooking the sausage, you can drain the grease beforehand. This pizza happens to be exceptionally spicy with the addition of calabrese chilies, with the ricotta acting as a “cooling” component.
Equipment
- pizza pan or pizza stone
Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough recipe or half for thin crust
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cups mozzarella shredded
- 8 oz Italian sausage cooked
- 4 tbsp Calabrese chiles finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
Instructions
- Roll out your pizza dough to your desired thickness. Evenly spread out the tomato sauce, leaving a 1/4” edge to the crust. Top with mozzarella. Evenly distribute the sausage, calabrese chilies, and cherry tomatoes. Drop tsp-sized dollops of ricotta all over the pizza.
- Bake in a preheated 475° oven for 12-15 minutes.
Pizza Dough
For the last 8 months, I’ve been trying to perfect the perfect standard pizza dough. Through lots of trial and error, I think I may have done it. This recipe is basic and straightforward, yielding what I consider a really good medium thickness crust for a 14” pizza. If you divide the dough into two, you will have 2 – 12” thin crust pizzas. Once assembled, these pizzas bake at 475° for 12-15 minutes depending on the crust thickness and the type of pan or pizza stone you use. This dough can keep in the refrigerator for 3 days and can also be frozen.
Equipment
- upright standing mixer with dough hook attachment
- plastic wrap
- rolling pin optional
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 cups flour plus extra
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Mix together the yeast and sugar. Dissolve in the warm water and let activate until bubbly; about 5 minutes.
- Mix the flour and salt in an upright standing mixer for 30 seconds on low. Pour in the yeast mixture and olive oil.
- Increase the speed to medium and continue to knead for 5 minutes. At this point, the dough will pull away completely from the side of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm area for about 30 minutes.
- Gently flour a clean surface. Place the dough in the center of the floured surface and lightly flour the top.
- Using either your hands or a rolling pin, stretch out the dough to your desired thickness.
