Tomato, Garlic and Sausage Pizza

I bought a new cookbook!  I shouldn't being saying those words.  I should be ashamed of myself.  I have over 200 cookbook already.  What was I thinking?
Well, tell me.... if you liked to cook, if you liked pizza,  and you walked by this:

what would you do?   You'd end up with it in  your cart, too, wouldn't you?
You couldn't help yourself, could  you?
Neither could I. 
And that is how I ended up making pizza on a work day evening last week.

The book is round, shaped like a pizza, which is a cute gimmick, but not great for cookbook holders, or holding and reading thru, but I persevered and made it work.

This book contains some really great pizza recipes.  I can't wait to try out a few more that I have my eye on, but   we all loved this one very much.  The Handyman, even tho he was full after 2 pieces, managed to eat more!  And then talk about how good it was all night.
I started out to make the pizza on the cover of the book, which is a tomato, garlic and sausage pizza,  but I made a few changes. 

The recipe called for  1 cup of diced tomatoes with juice and oregano, which might be more traditional  (in Italy), but I used this homemade  pizza sauce  (It's from my friend Brenda ) and we all loved the taste of it.
The pizza recipe used fresh mozzarella, sliced and spread on top, so not every single bite gets cheese, but this technique reminds me of a more traditional pizza.   Italian sausage crumbled and cooked and fresh basil strewn on top.
I didn't use fresh sliced garlic in the toppings as there was garlic in the sauce and I thought that was sufficient.  That was it. Simple but good.

It was a fun pizza to make, simple, yet really, really tasty. 

The  Handyman likes a thin crust, but I made a thicker crust this time and he loved it.

Tomato, Garlic and Sausage Pizza

Prepare your favorite pizza dough  Or use recipe below.
Preheat oven to  500 degrees F.

1 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
8 oz of spicy Italian sausage, casing removed and crumbled
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup diced canned tomatoes, with juice
1 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Fresh basil to garnish

Press your prepared dough into an oiled pizza pan using your fingers.
Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and garlic, saute until browned, about  5 minutes.  Drain off the fat and set aside.
Spread the dough evenly with the tomatoes, leaving a 1/2 inch border all around.  Top with the sausage mixture and mozzarella.  Season with the oregano, salt and pepper.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust is crisp and golden brown and the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.
Garnish with basil.
Serve Hot.


PIZZA DOUGH
1/2 oz fresh yeast or 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
about 1 cup warm water
2 cups bread flour (extra to dust hands and work surface)
1/3 tsp salt
1 tbls extra-virgin olive oil

Put the yeast in a small bowl and add about 1/2 cup of the warm water.  Stir gently until the yeast has dissolved. Set aside until frothy--about 10 minutes.

Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Pour in yeast water, oil and enough of the remaining water to obtain a sticky dough.

Dust a clean work surface with extra flour.  Scrap all the dough out of the bowl onto the work surface. Shape into a firm round ball.

Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. When it is firm and no longer sticks to your hands or the work surface, lift it up and bang it down hard a couple of times to develop the gluten.

Place in a large oiled bowl, cover with a cloth.  Set aside to rise for 1 hour. When ready, the dough will be smooth and elastic and show definite air bubbles beneath the surface. 

This will be cookbook #45 in my own personal cookbook countdown.

And for the first time ever, I am going to link to "Full Plate Thursday"  at

Miz Helen's Country Cottage.