sprinklefingers

by this time i’m hoping you’ve given homemade pizza dough a shot. it’s so delicious and so easy and so economical, you just have to do it.

and once you’ve made your own dough, you can start creating the most delicious pizzas, ever.

once such pizza for us is potato & sausage. hearty and delicious - it makes the perfect winter’s night main dish.

when i make this pizza i’ve usually just made two balls of fresh dough. because i’ve got all of the ingredients on hand, most of the time i go ahead and prep and bake two pizzas. we’ll eat one for dinner that night and the rest i’ll either freeze or refrigerate for lunches or dinner the next night.

this looks like a lot of work but it’s definitely not. and, no, i’m not claiming to be a pizza expert. but i make this pizza repeatedly for my boys and it’s easily on the dinner table in 30 minutes or less…and feeding boys quickly & deliciously is something i’m becoming an expert at, so there.

fingerling potato & sausage pizza
makes two pizzas

you need:

•  2 1lb balls pizza dough (if store bought, be sure at least some of the flour used is whole wheat)
• a few good glugs olive oil
• 2 healthy pinches dried italian herb mix
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 8 oz whole milk mozzarella, sliced thin
• 4 oz soft goat cheese
• 8 oz bulk sweet italian pork sausage, cooked.
• 4-5 fingerling potatoes sliced into coins a bit thicker than paperthin

dough notes:

if you have a pizza stone, put it in the oven while it preheats. if you are using a pizza stone, hopefully you have a pizza peel. if so, spread a bit of cornmeal on top of it before putting your pizza dough on it. the cornmeal will allow the pizza to slide off the peel onto the pizza stone (it may need additional coaxing from a spatula or your hand.)

no pizza peel? a rimless baking sheet will do just fine. just follow the tips above, using the rimless baking sheet instead of a peel.

no pizza stone and don’t want to mess with sliding a pizza into your oven? simply use a baking sheet or a pizza pan and load the dough & toppings directly on it - when you’ve built your pizzas, put them in the oven and bake. easy!

now, make pizza:

1. preheat the oven to 425.
2. if you have not yet cooked your sausage, now’d be a good time to do it.
3. in a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, italian herbs and smashed garlic cloves. let rest for 10 minutes (this will give you enough time for the next step…)
4. roll out the balls of dough into two separate pizzas - you want the crust to be medium-thick (not too thin or it won’t support the delicious toppings.)
5. brush the oil mixture evenly over both pizzas. if you need a little more oil, add a little more oil.
6. evenly divide the mozzarella and arrange on each pizza.
7. evenly divide the goat cheese and plop on each pizza.
8. evenly divide the potato slices and arrange on each pizza.
9. evenly divide the sausage and arrange on each pizza.
10. either slide your pizza onto your pizza stone or pop the pizza pan into the oven. bake for about 15 minutes (or a bit more if your oven runs cool) and take a peek - you want the cheese to get golden in places and you want the potatoes to be cooked through. if your pizza isn’t there yet, simply give it a few more minutes. repeat with the second pizza if you didn’t bake them simultaneously.

now that you’ve got two delicious pizzas on your hands, eat one. the other pizza - either let cool and wrap well in foil and freeze or slice & refrigerate for lunches (or dinner tomorrow!)

if you do freeze your pizza, simply bake wrapped in the foil at 350 until thawed, then unwrap and up the heat a bit to crisp up the crust.

tip: my favorite way to reheat pizza-by-the-slice that’s been refrigerated is to put a few slices in a frying pan over medium heat. put a lid on the pan for the first few minutes, then remove the lid until the cheese is all melty (don’t leave the lid on too long or the crust will get soggy!)