Sausage, Garlic and Ricotta Pizza + Allie's Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe

Just about every Friday night is pizza night in our house. And this Sausage, Garlic and Ricotta Pizza is one of my favorites!

Luke gets home from work and makes a batch of his famous, but secret, family dough recipe, then we get creative with the toppings.

We almost always split the dough in half and make two different types of pizza. This comes from a history of indecision. When we were younger, we were notoriously bad at making choices about what we would eat or where. We've gotten better at it, overall, but when it comes to pizza, two options are so much better than one—so when it comes to pizza night, we just make two!

We usually make one margarita-style pizza with a quick tomato sauce on the bottom and sliced fresh mozzarella on top and maybe some fresh basil or just a shake of Italian seasoning. Then we'll switch up the other pizza—peppers and onions, bbq chicken with red onions, pear and gorgonzola, sausage and peppers, or whatever's on hand in the fridge.

This pizza was born of necessity. There was a container of ricotta in the back of the fridge, some wilty spinach in the crisper and a desire for white pizza. With the addition of some local spicy ground Italian sausage and some fresh garlic for punchiness, the Sausage, Garlic and Ricotta Pizza was born.

And it's seriously incredible. The spiciness of the sausage, creaminess of the ricotta and serious punch of garlic—a total winner. Plus, just look how pretty she is:

The dough recipe below isn't Luke's, but one that I quickly made before he got home. It's a bit wheat-heavy, but that made for the perfectly hearty base to hold all the garlicky, cheesy goodness of the toppings. It's sure to be make a repeat appearance in our standard pizza night rotation!

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5 from 1 vote

Sausage, Garlic and Ricotta Pizza

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Dough Rests 1 hour

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Wheat Pizza Dough

• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2-3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

For 1 Sausage, Garlic and Ricotta Pizza:

• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove crushed.
• 1/2 batch of above Wheat Dough recipe

Instructions

Prep Whole Wheat Pizza Dough:

• In a large glass measuring cup, add warm water, yeast and sugar. Stir to combine and let proof for 5 minutes. The top should begin to foam thickly.
  
• Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, measure out the wheat flour, 2 cups of white flour, olive oil, salt and the water with proofed yeast. Mix on low until the sides of the bowl come clean. Stop mixer. If dough is wet, add more white flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough becomes more moist.
  
• Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. Turn mixer on low and allow to knead for 5 minutes. Dough is ready when the surface is smooth and when you poke a finger into the dough, the imprint stays for a moment. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour
  

Prep the Pizza:

• Cook the ground sausage until browned about 10 minutes
  
• Preheat the oven to 500° F.
  
• Take half of the risen dough and roll out on a floured surface. Roll thin, then stretch on to a baking sheet or pizza pan.
  
• Drizzle olive oil on dough and spread evenly. Sprinkle the cooked sausage, spinach and mozzarella over the dough.
  
• Dollop the ricotta on a tablespoon at a time. Top pizza with crushed garlic.
  
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is golden brown and the bottom of dough is crispy.
  
• Wrap up the 2nd half of the dough in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator or roll out and top as you like!