If you're looking to shake up pizza night, this easy, rustic sausage and sweet potato pizza with sage is the way to do it! This will be your new favorite Fall pizza for sure.
This is one of my favorite recipes ever. It's all about cozy evenings, sweater weather, and easy cleanup. It's one of those dinner-on-the-sofa-with-a-good-movie recipes, and it pairs perfectly with cozy socks and a glass of wine. Doesn't that sound good tonight!?
If you prefer a healthier crust, substitute the crust in this recipe with my whole wheat pizza crust.
What you'll love about it
- It's seasonal ingredients are all about the cold weather months.
- It's a rustic pizza, which means you don't need to fuss over the pizza crust shape-the wonkier, the better! No judgement.
- It's easy to make, easy to eat, and easy to clean up.
- It's made with sweet potato-one potato has 400% of the vitamin A needed in a day, amongst an array of other amazing benefits.
- The leftovers heat up really well, and it's even more delicious the next day!
- If you want, you can make the dough for the crust a day in advance and let it rise in the fridge.
How to make it
Start the crust first, because the dough needs to rise. Use a bowl and wooden spoon or stand mixer to combine the crust ingredients until just combined, and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. It may look a little shaggy at first (photo 1).
Flour a wooden or non stick surface lightly with flour to prevent sticking, (photo 2) and turn the dough out onto it for kneading.
Knead the dough
Knead the dough to work the glutens on the floured surface. Do this by using the heel of your hand to push the dough away from your body (photo 3). Fold the dough in half by pulling it back toward you (photo 4), and repeat the pushing of the dough with the heel of your hand (photo 5). Repeat this kneading process for about 8-10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, tossing the dough ball around to coat and cover lightly with a towel or plastic wrap (photo 6).
Allow the dough to rise for about 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge. Once the dough has rested and went through a one to two hour rise, it's time to top it.
Fry the toppings
Meanwhile, while the dough is rising, fry the sausage (photo 7) and the sweet potatoes with sage and butter (photo 8).
**Don't wait for the dough to "double in size". It won't double in size like bread, as the recipe calls for a small amount of yeast (1 teaspoon) as opposed to the typical 2 ½ teaspoons. The reason for this, is because it's best to just use enough yeast to "get the job done". This results in a chewy, pizzeria style crust.
Form the rustic crust
After the dough has rested/risen, stretch, and pull the dough, as opposed to rolling it with a rolling pin. This is what gives a chewy texture.
The "chewy bite" that I referred to above, that distinguishes a pizza crust from other flat breads. You can do this using gravity, you can stretch it with your two hands, whatever is easiest. Don't worry about a perfect shape, as this is a rustic pizza, with characteristic irregularities in it's crust shape, as shown below (photo 9).
Sprinkle cornmeal lightly on a baking sheet to prevent sticking (photo 10). In a small bowl, beat an egg with a pinch of red pepper flake and brush on the edge of the crust (photo 11). Drizzle the center of the crust lightly with olive oil, and begin layering with cheese, sausage, sweet potato, and again with cheese and sage, in that order (photo 12).
Bake the pizza in a 425 degrees (Fahrenheit) oven for roughly 20 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Tips and Tricks
- Don't over-knead the dough. If using a stand mixer with a dough hook, either let it knead for just 2 minutes, or remove the dough from the mixer after it's combined and knead it by hand for 8-10 minutes.
- Brushing beaten egg over the crust before baking is not required, but it makes it shiny and golden; adding red pepper flake, or garlic powder can add extra flavor.
- Use a combination of mozzarella and Monterey jack cheeses.
- If the dough seems to dry, only add a tablespoon of water at a time to add moisture.
- If the dough seems too wet, only add a tablespoon of flour at a time to bring it together.
More delicious from-scratch pizza recipes:
- Garlic Ranch & Zucchini Pizza
- BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza
- (Secretly Healthy) DIY freezer Personal Pan Pizza
If you made this recipe, leave a 1-5 star rating using the stars in the recipe card below!
Fall Pizza with Sausage and Sweet Potato
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for greasing bowl
- 1 cup water
For the Toppings
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
- 4 ounces Monterey jack cheese shredded
- ½ pound ground pork sausage regular, sage or maple
- 1 sweet potato peeled, diced
- 5-6 sage leaves fresh
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- red pepper flake optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- cornmeal for sprinkling
Instructions
- Use a mixer or bowl and spoon to combine crust ingredients until dough has formed.
- On a generously floured surface, knead dough for 8-10 minutes (or in mixer with dough hook for 2 minutes).
- Place dough in a large bowl with sides greased with olive oil; turn the dough over to coat all sides, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise/rest for 60 minutes (or in fridge overnight).
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- In a heavy skillet, fry sausage until brown and crispy; set sausage aside on a plate or bowl. Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of grease in skillet for next step.
- In the same pan, sauté peeled and diced potatoes in skillet with reserved sausage grease until browned, salt and peppering to taste; add sage leaves and toss. Remove from heat.
- Stretch dough to form crust on a floured surface.
- Lightly sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal, and transfer crust onto it.
- Beat an egg with a pinch of red pepper flake (optional), and brush onto crust edges.
- Drizzle crust with olive oil, lightly.
- Sprinkle most of the shredded cheeses over the crust, followed by cooked sausage and diced sweet potato. Add remaining cheese and sage leaves.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is light golden brown, and cheese is melted and bubbly.
Notes
- Consider using sage or maple sausage for additional flavor, otherwise choose regular country ground pork sausage.
- Shred cheese off the block, don't use pre shredded cheese as it doesn't melt properly.
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