Homemade Sausage Pizza Recipe
a
with portugese chouriço

We recently caught on to the wonder that is homemade bread, thanks to our neighbor and bread-making master, Drew Jeglinski. Drew showed us how to make homemade pizza with fresh dough, which is a great and tasty base for lots of wine-friendly dishes. While you can pull this off without them, a few extra accessories are very helpful - a pizza stone and a pizza peel.

Both the pizza and the chouriço (if you're not familiar-think the portugese version of spanish chorizo) call out for a vibrant, bright red wine with medium to full body. Italian wines make a natural pairing, such as our 'Steal' value from Umbria, but rustic, hearty reds from other sunny regions such as our 'Splurge' Tempranillo from Spain will also fit the bill beautifully.

Wine Pairing

"Splurge"
2006 Orobio Tempranillo, Rioja
Peppery and ripe, with fig-like flavors and a bit of rustic earthiness in the aroma. ($18)

"Steal"
2006 Falesco Vitiano Rosso, Umbria
A blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese, offering rich jammy, plummy fruit flavors. ($10)

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Ingredients & Recipe

from "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" by Joe Heitzberg & Zoë François

2 1/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
3/4 tbsp granulated yeast (available in the baking aisle)
3/4 tbsp salt

1.) Mix yeast, water and salt in a 5-quart bowl. Mix in remaining dry ingredients kneading with a spoon or in a food processor with a dough attachment or dough hook.

2.) Cover loosely with saran wrap or a lid - but not airtight. Let rest at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until dough rises and then collapses again.

3.) Refrigerate to chill dough so it's easier to work with, at least a few hours. Can be saved up to 14 days in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded container.

Chouriço Sausage Pizza Ingredients & Recipe

1 lb chouriço Portugese sausage
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 large yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup wheat flour

1.) Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place pizza stone in oven. Remove sausage from casing and cut into 1/2" pieces. Slice the onion and bell pepper, and mince garlic.

2.) Cut off a grapefruit-sized piece of chilled dough, about 1 pound. Dust a clean prep surface with some of the loose wheat flour. Shape dough using the palms of your hands to flatten the dough from a ball into a disc shape.

3.) Keep adding flour as you work the dough, flipping as you shape it until it's 1 foot across, evenly round and 1" thick.

4.) Dust pizza peel with flour and carefully lift the dough onto it. Spread tomato paste evenly onto the pizza, leaving 1" at the edge. Layer onions, bell peppers, chouriço and cheese on top.

5.) Carefully transfer pizza from the peel onto the hot pizza stone, shaking the peel to and slide it off. Cook for 12 - 15 minutes, until edges of crust are nicely browned.

6.) Use the peel to transfer the pizza off the stone, let cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve!
 

Use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough

Your finished dough should be round and 1 foot wide

Layer vegetables, meat and cheese meat for toppings

Shake the peel to slide the pizza onto the stone