Food n' Focus - Food, Travel, Photography

Get our seasonal cookbook FREE! when you sign up for email updates

Home / feat. Pasta / Sausage and Pesto Pizza
Sausage and Pesto Pizza

Sausage and Pesto Pizza

Well, we’re down to one week left before Christmas is finally here! We had a little dusting of snow the other night that had me feeling like I was ready for the celebrations. I’m going to be off work between Christmas and NYE and am looking forward to some down time, just relaxing with a good movie and so today I wanted to share a tasty pizza recipe perfect for making during your down time with your friends and loved ones. This sausage and pesto pizza is easy to make, loaded with flavor and turns out perfectly when made on today’s pizza stone giveaway!

How to make Homemade Pizza

My husband and I really enjoy making homemade pizza and the crust is always the most important part. You want it to turn out airy with a slight chew and perfectly crisp on the bottom. The dough is important but also important is the surface in which you cook your pizza. The new Square Pizza Stone from Emile Henry is the perfect solution to a crispy crust. This stone withstands high heat so it’s great for making pizzas on the grill too. The handles on the stone make it easy to put in and out of the oven without getting burned.

While this pizza may seem slightly basic, there is no compromise on the flavor combination. I use a mild sausage but you can easily spice it up with a spicier Italian blend. The pizza is topped off with sautéed onions, mozzarella cheese and a drizzle of pesto and fresh basil when it comes out of the oven. It’s fresh and delicious and if you’re feeling adventurous you can mix up the types of cheese on the pizza.

Homemade Sausage and Pesto Pizza

I have featured the recipe for my favorite crust on the blog before. This is a quick rising dough that turns out airy and crusty but if you want to make it ahead of time you can cover it loosely in the refrigerator and let it sit longer. You also want to be sure you don’t over-kneed the dough because that will remove all of those airy bubbles. AND NEVER, NEVER use a rolling pin to stretch out the dough!

Homemade Sausage and Pesto Pizza vertical

Emile Henry is being so generous and offering one of my lucky readers their beautiful Square Pizza Stones! Here’s how you can enter to win:

  • To enter the blog giveaway: Leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite pizza toppings.
  • Bonus Entry #1: Head over to Instagram and follow my profile AND comment on today’s post. Then come back here and comment on this post telling me you have done both.
  • Bonus Entry #2: Head over to Instagram and follow Emile Henry and then come back here and comment on this post telling me you did so!
  • Bonus Entry #3: Share this giveaway on your Facebook page then come back here and leave a link to your post.
  • US entrants only, winners will be chosen 12/26/19 and notified via email the next day! GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

And now for the pizza!

4.9 from 7 reviews
Sausage and Pesto Pizza {Giveaway!}
 
Print
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 pound fresh pizza dough (this recipe is perfect)
  • ½ cup pizza sauce
  • ½ pound ground Italian sausage, cooked
  • ½ medium onion, sautéed slightly with olive oil
  • 2 cups low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ⅓ cup fresh basil pesto
  • Fresh basil leaves for topping
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with a pizza stone inside.
  2. On a large cutting board or pizza peel, stretch out your dough to be slightly smaller than that of your pizza stone. Spread an even layer of sauce over the crust. Top with sausage crumbles, sautéed onions and cheese.
  3. Carefully slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone in the oven and cook for 8-12 minutes. Keep an eye on the pizza and remove it just as the cheese is melted and slightly golden.
  4. Drizzle the pesto over the top of the pizza and top with fresh basil before cutting and serving.

Homemade Sausage and Pesto Pizza vertical

Subscribe

Comments

  6. I have a new favorite pizza. It has a garlic sauce and then it’s topped wild mushrooms, caramelized onion, bacon and fresh mozzarella. It’s truly amazing!!

    Reply

  9. My favorite pizza toppings are pepperoni and onion with double cheese…and top that with Parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes.

    Reply

  26. My favorite pizza topping change with the season, fresh ingredients are always the best! In the summer, nothing beats vine ripened tomatoes plucked right from my garden and fresh basil!
    One of my favorite pies is topped with garlic hummus, spinach, pine nuts, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, provolone and fresh basil.

    Reply

  34. It’s Friday Night Pizza every week for my husband and me. We aren’t too heavy on the cheese, and meat, if any, is usually a fennel seed-chilli sausage or prosciutto, and instead love pies with garlic oil or pesto bases + loads of whichever veg, herbs, even fruit are in season!

    Reply

  64. Did all three bonus entries but for some reason I cannot copy the link to my fb from my phone. You can find it under Cassandra Christ

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

More Pasta

All Pasta

More Travel

All Travel