Italian Sausage Pizza with Red Sauce and Pesto

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ pound Italian sausage (mild or hot), casings removed
• 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough
• ½ cup red pizza sauce, homemade or store-bought
• ⅓ cup green pesto sauce, homemade or store-bought
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
• ¼ cup finely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 to 5 large basil or medium baby spinach leaves

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone in the top third or place the steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for at least 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high.
• Pinch the sausage into small pieces and put it on a plate near the stove. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (it will slosh around the skillet when you lift the handle), add the sausage and cook, stirring frequently, just until all the pieces are no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Take the skillet off the heat and transfer the sausage to a paper towel–lined plate. Blot the top of the sausage with a few clean paper towels.
• Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet / pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
• Prick the dough all over with a fork. Use a spoon to dollop and spread the red pizza sauce into a spiral shape (see photo above). Then, use another spoon to fill in the rest of the naked dough with pesto sauce, getting it all the way to the edges. Scatter the sausage evenly over top, followed by the diced mozzarella and shredded Parmigiano. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and few grinds of black pepper.
• Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is evenly browned on the bottom and the cheese has browned in spots—8 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet, 5 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
• While the pizza bakes, stack the basil or baby spinach leaves, roll them lengthwise into a long, thin cigar shape, and slice them thinly to make little ribbons (chiffonade).
• Take the pizza out of the oven and let it sit for a minute or two, then top with the basil or baby spinach ribbons; slice and serve