Homemade Sausage For A Homemade Pizza

Mmmm. Pizza. So many possibilities for a cookin' with whatcha got meal. This is the reason why you should have pizza dough on hand at all times. It freezes perfectly, so you can take one out whenever you feel like it. And, you can pretty much add whatever the heck you want (or need to use up) from the fridge and pantry. Genius.

I buy my pizza dough (the whole wheat variety) at Trader Joe's, and I buy 2-3 at a time to store in the freezer. They have plain white dough, whole wheat, and herb dough. They are all really good. Another fun place to get ready-to-bake pizza dough is your local pizzeria. If there's a restaurant crust that you fancy, there's a really good chance that they will sell you a portion of dough, so you can make your own pizza at home. Try it. I'm not joking. Of course, if you're at a regular supermarket, you can also buy the Pillsbury crust. It's pretty good too.

I don't know about you, but I love sausage on my pizza. I'm not a huge fan of pepperoni, but I love sausage pizza. I used to buy sweet Italian sausage for my pizzas, but then one day (years ago) I didn't have any stocked up. I did, however, have ground turkey. I thought about it for a little while and then I realized...sausage is ground meat, just with some seasoning!

So, I played around a little. I pulled out the salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, oregano, red chili flakes, garlic, onion, cumin...a little shake here and there...mixed it into the turkey meat and I had myself some sausage. I tested the seasoning by taking a little bit and cooking it in a small skillet. then taste it. If it needs something else, like salt or garlic, add a little more...you get the point.

This time I used about 1/4 lb of ground turkey to cover one large pizza. Add 1tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp red chili flakes, 1T oregano, 1tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp garlic powder.

To make my pizza, I used a pizza screen (shown underneath my ingredients) - a gift from my aunt for Christmas. You can find them at restaurant supply stores. The screen makes the crust come out really perfect, because the holes let the hot oven air reach the bottom and crisps it up just enough without burning it. So fun!

I used pesto, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, leeks (I needed to use them, and they are in the onion family!), goat cheese, the sausage, and then I added artichoke hearts at the end - I remembered I had some at the last minute.

Roll out the dough to fit the pizza screen. Pesto on first, then the cheese, then the other toppings...

I always finish my pizzas off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and fresh cracked black pepper.

In the oven at 450F for 10 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the cheese is melted. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes and then transfer it to a cutting board to slice.

It's so easy and fun to do with friends and/or kids! Happy cookin'!