Spicy Sausage & Fennel Pizza

Someone once said, “Pizza is like sex. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” I won’t comment about that, but I definitely agree that there’s a very wide spectrum of pizza and even the worst slice I’ve ever had was still not awful. But as you live and learn, you realize that bad pizza just isn’t worth the calories. In our house, we have all-out battles when we go to order pizza. This one likes Greek pizza with a thicker, more buttery crust. That one likes Italian pizza, so thin that you can fold the slice in half to eat it. One of us likes square pizza, one of us will only eat round pizza. It goes on and on. So I find it’s easier just to make pizza at home when time permits. This Spicy Sausage & Fennel Pizza is the newest crowd pleaser in our house.

What is fennel?

It’s got the feel of a Sicilian pizza – thick and square and fully loaded with a rich, thick tomato sauce, a blend of Italian cheeses, spicy sausage and lots of sauteed fennel. Fennel is a vegetable in the carrot family, but it’s not a root vegetable and it tastes nothing like a carrot. You can eat it raw for its crunchy texture and anise-like flavor. But cooking it really mellows the flavor and allows a mild sweetness to come through. Fennel is used a lot in Italian cooking and it lends a really delicious dimension to sauces and stews.

So yes, there’s a lot going on with this pizza, but what I love most about it is the sauce. It’s August and the summer season is all about light, bright flavors. I’ve had to get very creative finding ways to use the massive amounts of fresh tomatoes in my garden. And while I love a nice, light marinara sauce in the summer, I was craving something different when making this Sausage & Fennel Pizza. I wanted that kind of pizza sauce that sticks to the crust and is so full of pungent tomato-y goodness that you feel it in your jaw when you bite into it.

Making the best pizza sauce

In order to get that rich, thick flavor and consistency, you’ve gotta use canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones. For this pizza, we’re making the sauce using a combination of tomato puree and tomato paste. Throw some garlic and herbs in there, cook it down for a few minutes and voila, you’ve got a deep, luscious sauce that you’ll dream about. This recipe will give you extra sauce that you can store in the fridge for the next time you make pizza.

And since there’s some effort going into making the pizza sauce and the toppings, I didn’t want to also have to make the dough from scratch. If you have a great pizza dough recipe and you’re so inclined, go for it. For this Spicy Sausage & Fennel Pizza, I used refrigerated pizza dough. If you’re lucky enough to have a Wegmans market in your area, they make a very good pizza dough that I use all the time. It takes some time – up to 10 minutes – to stretch the dough to fit your baking sheet, but just be patient and continue to stretch it out until it gets there.

This Spicy Sausage & Fennel Pizza is probably the most stick-to-your-ribs thing I’ve made all summer, and it felt pretty good. It’s definitely going on the menu for football Sundays, and I hope it will find its way onto your table soon too! Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage & Fennel Pizza

Spicy Italian sausage, a blend of cheeses & rich, thick tomato sauce make this square-cut pizza irresistible!

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Prep Time 45 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 10 slices

Ingredients

  

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The Pizza

• 1 package of refrigerated pizza dough
• 1 bulb of fennel
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese grated
• 2 cups Asiago cheese grated
• 1 lb. hot Italian sausage
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced

The Pizza Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 28 oz. can of tomato puree
• 3/4 cup of tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh
• 1 tsp. dried oregano or 2 tsp. fresh
• 1 tsp. dried parsley or 2 tsp. fresh

Instructions

 

• Place the pizza dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to come to room temperature while you prepare the sauce and toppings.
• Make the sauce: Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat until it starts to turn golden brown. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes.
• Make the topping: Remove stems and fronds from the fennel and chop the bulb into small pieces. Heat oil over medium heat in a saute pan, then add the garlic and chopped fennel. Cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the sausage from its casings and add to the pan. Break up the sausage into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Cook until sausage is browned, about 5-7 more minutes. Remove from heat.
• Combine the grated mozzarella and grated Asiago cheeses in a bowl.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On an oiled 9×13 baking sheet, stretch the pizza dough until it meets all edges and corners. Top with pizza sauce, half of the cheese mixture, then the sausage mixture, then the rest of the cheese. Bake 22-24 minutes.

Keyword cheese, dinner

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