Crumbled Sausage and Vodka Pizza
Crumbled Sausage and Vodka Pizza
Tomorrow marks my favorite nondenominational holiday. For all you math whizzes out there, you know. For everyone else, it's Pi day :)! I typically like to celebrate by making a pizza, because, why not?! Now because it's completely homemade and not exactly a perfect circle, I doubt the ratio of the distance around this circle to its diameter is pi, but it'll taste delicious! I'll guarantee that. Make homemade dough and use high quality 00 flour. Homemade dough of course will not have any chemicals nor preservatives in it. The 00 flour gives the dough that great chew and texture that GOOD pizza places use. Make sure your yeast is "fresh." If it doesn't foam within 10 minutes, throw it out and buy new. For the sauce, I used my homemade vodka sauce. It gives the pizza a much more exciting flavor than traditional tomato sauce. For the sausage, you can make homemade, but if not buy high quality sausage that is without nitrates and nitrites. Your body will thank me. Since it's pizza, you obviously have to have cheese (sorry vegans). Get some high quality (low moisture) mozzarella cheese and a block of parmesan cheese. Freshly grate both. The pre-grated cheeses have anti-caking agents in them. That's what makes this "just right."
Equipment
- stand mixer
- sheet pan or pizza stone
- large saute pan
- thermometer
- plastic wrap
- can opener
- parchment paper or silpat
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups good quality 00 flour pizza flour
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tsp organic raw cane sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt Diamond Crystal
- 3/4 cup warm water 110-115°F
- organic olive oil
Vodka Sauce
- 1 large yellow or white onion finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 6 oz can organic tomato paste
- 1/2 cup high quality vodka
- 1/2 cup organic heavy cream room temperature
- 1/2 tsp crushed red chili peppers
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese fresly grated
- kosher salt https://amzn.to/3ZRuGXG **
- fresh cracked black pepper
Pizza
- 1/2 lb high quality sweet Italian sausage
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup organic low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
Instructions
Dough
- Place 3/4 of warm water (110-115°F) in a measuring cup. Add the sugar and yeast and mix to dissolve. Let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. The mixture should be foamy. If not, throw it out and buy new yeast.
- Meanwhile, place 2 cups of the 00 flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt and mix with the dough hook to combine. Add the yeast mixture and 1 tbs of olive oil. Mix on low until it starts to form a ball and then increase the speed to medium-high. Mix for 10 minutes. The dough should form a ball, "climb" the dough hook, and be slapping the walls of the bowl. Remove the dough from the hook and bowl. If it's sticky, place a little bit of flour on your hands. Add a tbs of olive oil to the bowl, rub the dough ball in the olive oil, place plastic wrap over it and let it sit at room temperature for 90 minutes. At this point, you may use it, refrigerate, or freeze it. You can leave it in the bowl if you are refrigerating it for up to 3 days. If you want to freeze it, place it in a zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. See notes.
Vodka Sauce
- Peel and finely chop the onion and mince the garlic.
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, add a tbs of olive oil and the onions. Season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh cracked black pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add the chili flakes and minced garlic. Cook for a minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Next add the tomato paste. Add 1/4 tsp of kosher salt. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. You want the tomato paste to start to caramelize.
- Next add the vodka. Mix to combine. This needs time to cook off, about 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, add the heavy cream and 1/4 tsp of kosher salt and a few grinds of fresh cracked black pepper. Mix to combine and cook, stirring for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the freshly grated parmesan cheese and mix to combine. Taste to see if it needs another pinch of salt. This can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 500°F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the sausage. Break it up and cook until it's no longer pink, about 7-8 minutes.
- Grate the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Mince the garlic.
- If you had the dough in the fridge, take it out and place on the counter to come to room temperature for 30-60 minutes. Punch the dough. Form it into a ball. If it's sticky put a little flour on your hands.
- If you have a pizza stone, use that. If not (I don't), flip a sheet pan over and use a silpat or parchment paper. Gently stretch the dough until it's about 12 inches in diameter. Place it on the silpat / parchment lined sheet pan. If the dough springs back, place the plastic wrap over it and let it sit at room temperature for 30 more minutes. Place 1 cup of the vodka sauce all over the pizza, leaving a 1 inch border. Add the cooked sausage, raw garlic, grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Place in the oven, and cook for 15-18 minutes until the the dough is cooked and the cheese has melted. Serve with additional parmesan cheese. Happy Pi day!
Notes
Note, if you freeze the dough, make sure you put it in the fridge to thaw overnight and then let it come to room temperature for 30-60 minutes before baking.
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2 Comments
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Mamta Kaji
Yummy!!
Zahavalox
<3! Thank you.