Sallee B's Two Cheese, Sausage Pizza with Homemade Crust

The Harley Riding, Queen of Pizza

Several years ago, my weekend job was assembling and baking pizzas for a local convenience store. I, laughingly, told  folks that I was the Harley riding, pizza queen of Belle, MO. Today, I am still a serious pizza fanatic who is content to eat hot pizza for supper, cold pizza for breakfast, and warmed up pizza for lunch. My obsession with pizza has kept me hunting for the perfect homemade pizza dough. My definition of a perfect homemade pizza dough is:

• Yeast dough
• Quick and easy to make
• Thin, but tender after baking

Finally, I believe that my search has ended. The recipe that I followed today baked up into a thin, tender crust with a golden brown bottom.

Bottom of pizza crust after baking for 25 minutes at 375*F

Sallee B's Porkalicious Sausage, Portobello, and Black Olive Pizza

Yield: 1 large 16" round pizza, or 15" x 17" rectangular pizza.

Ingredients

1 lb. mild pork sausage

1/2 sliced, large black olives

1/2 cup Hunt's Premium Mushroom Pasta Sauce (spaghetti sauce)

4 ounces Baby Portobello mushrooms

1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp. packed, brown sugar

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Colby jack cheese

Canola oil

Note: I open a 24 oz. can of Hunt's Pasta Sauce and a large can of whole black olives. Then, I use the leftover sauce and olives to make angel hair spaghetti for my lunch. However, this is enough sauce and black olives for two pizzas.

Directions

• Make the pizza crust dough according to the directions.
• Cover the bowl with a light towel and set aside. 
• Turn your oven on and let it start heating to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Then assemble, slice, and cook the  pizza toppings in the following order:

1. Slice about 1/2 cup of ripe black olives
2. Wash and slice 4 ozs. of Baby Portobello Mushrooms
3. Open the one pound roll of mild pork sausage. Using your fingers, break the sausage into small pieces. Place the pieces in a medium, nonstick skillet. When all of the sausage pieces have been placed into the skillet, put the skillet on medium heat. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp.dried Italian seasoning and 1 1/2 tsp. packed brown sugar over the sausage pieces in the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is just beginning to brown, or about 2/3 done. Turn the heat to low, add the sliced mushrooms, cover the pan with a lid. Cook for about three - four minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender and the sausage pieces are cooked through. Place the sausage and mushroom mixture into a colander and allow fat to drain.
4. Lightly rub a 16" pizza pan, or a 15"x18" baking sheet with canola oil. 
5. Place the pizza dough in the center of the pan. Press the dough into a flat disc. Gently begin pressing and stretching the dough toward the edges of the pan until it is the desired thickness. Take care not to rip the dough.
6. Place 1/2 cup pasta sauce in center of pizza dough and spread evenly toward the edge of the pizza dough.
7. Sprinkle sausage and mushroom mixture evenly across the dough
8. I do not measure the mozzarella. I just sprinkle it on the pizza until the toppings are lightly covered. Then I sprinkle a handful or two of the shredded Colby jack cheese on top of the mozzarella.
9. Bake pizza for 20 - 25 minutes at 375*F.

Before slicing - large, whole black olives 

Baby Portobello mushrooms and mild pork sausage