FNP: Sausage, Red Onion, and Crimini Mushroom

Last week, I was in a bit of a Friday Night Pizza rut. I’ve really been enjoying coming up with new ideas for them since I started this series, but last week….well….I was clean out of inspiration. A quick search on epicurious.com (what would I do without that web site?) yielded this recipe for sausage, red onion, and wild mushroom pizza.

We had some organic sausage from Kingbird Farm, from grass-fed pigs. It was *delicious* — you know how most sausage you buy in the supermarket can have little tough bits (ugh) in it when you brown it up? Not this. This was almost velvety smooth, really tender, and a real treat.

In a word, this pizza is “woodsy” — and would be great for a fall or winter pizza. There’s some fresh minced rosemary mixed in with the mushrooms, and a little kick to the onions from the crushed red pepper. A quick saute of the onions and mushrooms before putting them on the pizza really increases their flavor. Definitely a keeper!

TGIF!

Previous Friday Night Pizzas:
Asparagus, Ricotta & Salami Pizza
Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Thyme Pizza
Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gruyere Pizza
Green Garlic Monster Pizza
Pizza with Mushrooms, Asiago, Roasted Garlic & Thyme
Pesto & Potato Pizza
Sausage & Rapini Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Fontina and Ricotta
Southwestern Black Bean & Vegetable

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Sausage, Red Onion, and Crimini Mushroom Pizza

Adapted from Bon Appetit, March 2005

Ingredients
1 ball pizza dough (about 1 lb)
1/2 pound Italian sausage (casings removed)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
a good pinch (about 1/4 teaspoon) crushed red pepper
2 large handfuls crimini mushrooms (or other brown or wild mushroom), sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

1 handful grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 large handful fresh mozzarella cheese, torn into pieces

Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, preferably with a baking stone inside. Stretch out your ball of pizza dough and lay it out on a pizza peel or baking sheet that’s been generously dusted with cornmeal.

Saute the sausage in a little olive oil until browned and no longer pink. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

In the same skillet, pour a little more olive oil in (if needed) and saute the red onion slices with the crushed red pepper, just until crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In the same skillet, pour a little more olive oil in (if needed) and add the sliced mushrooms and fresh rosemary. Saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Scatter the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the pizza crust. Top with the sausage, onions and mushrooms. Top with the torn pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned.