Some of my other favorite combinations include
- garlic oil with burrata, sliced tomato, basil, and rocket (arugula)
- artichoke, salami, pepperoncini (pickled Tuscan pepper) slices, crushed tinned tomatoes, and fontina cheese
- Italian pork meatballs, mozzarella, crushed tinned tomatoes, garlic, and basil
- mixed wild and brown mushroom slices, sage, and mozzarella
As well, you can make the dough 1-2 days ahead, and keep it covered and refrigerated in an oiled bowl. Toppings such as broccolini can be blanched earlier in the day, refreshed, and refrigerated.–Jennifer Joyce
CAN I MAKE PIZZA INTO CALZONES?
What? Of course, you can! Stretch out that dough, but just place the fillings on one side. Brush the edges with a little water and fold the dough over. Give the edges a little pinch, all the way around—like an empanada. The top will need a little slash for the steam to escape, then slide it onto a preheated stone or pizza tray and cook until golden, 8 to 12 minutes.
White Pizza with Broccolini, Fontina, and Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds store-bought or homemade pizza dough, at room temperature
- Semolina, polenta, or flour, for dusting
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 9 ounces Italian sausage, casings removed, meat pinched into 1 1/4 inch (3 cm) pieces
- Salt
- 1 bunch (about 5 oz) broccolini or rapini (broccoli rabe), trimmed and cut into thin stalks
- 5 1/2 ounces fontina, provolone piccante, or Asiago cheese, thinly sliced
- 4 1/2 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained, torn into pieces
- 1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Place a pizza stone, baking steel, or heavy metal baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to its highest temperature.
- Dust a pizza peel, flat baking sheet, or overturned rimmed baking sheet with polenta, semolina, or flour.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil and brown the sausage until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage from the skillet and drain on paper towel.
- Meanwhile, in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water, cook the broccolini for 1 minute. Drain and refresh under cold water. Pat the refreshed broccolini dry.
- Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and keep 3 covered with a clean dish towel while you make the first pizza. Using only your fingers, stretch the dough into a 10 inch (25cm) round, lifting and turning to ensure that the dough doesn’t stick to the work surface. If the dough is at room temperature, it should open and stretch easily.
☞ TESTER TIP: Don’t be tempted to use a rolling pin to stretch the dough, as it will press out all the bubbles in the dough and result in a noticeably flatter, less tender crust.
- Move the stretched dough to the prepared pizza peel. Scatter with one-quarter of each of the sausage, broccolini, fontina, mozzarella, garlic slices, and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Carefully and swiftly, slide the dough onto the preheated pizza stone or hot baking tray. Cook until crisp on the bottom, 6 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven.
☞ TESTER TIP: If your oven is hotter at the back, be sure to rotate the pizza halfway through cooking.
- While the first pizza cooks, stretch and top the next pizza and immediately pop it in the oven when the first pizza is removed. Continue for the remaining dough portions until all 4 pizzas have been topped and baked. Slice, if desired, and serve immediately. Buon Appetito!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
My adult daughter, husband (also an adult), and I all really enjoyed this simple, yet satisfying white pizza with broccolini, fontina, and sausage. The sum of its parts was really quite delicious.
I always prep my pizza on a piece of parchment. Super easy to get onto the stone and if you want, you can take it out as soon as the pizza sets. I’ve never had an issue with it interfering with crisping the crust.
Let me start by clarifying, I used this recipe for white pizza with broccolini, fontina, and sausage to make calzones, not pizza. I used all the same ingredients but made calzones because with our weather being so nice everyone was out so I thought the calzones would keep. However, I did eat mine right out of the oven and it was delicious.
I’ve made broccoli and sautéed broccoli rabe but never broccolini and it was very good, cooks quickly and it’s very tender, not bitter. I did blanch the broccolini several hours prior and it was still bright green. There was more than enough filling for 6 calzones. I made my own pizza dough and really enjoyed the flavor combination of sausage, broccolini & fontina cheese and I’ll be making pizza with this combination.
I love sausage and broccoli/broccolini/rapini together, and I love pizza…so this was a total WIN. I make pizza often (including this combo) but I have never added fresh mozzarella to it…game changer! The fresh mozzarella was melty and gooey, and just pure heaven! I used rapini on my pizza because I couldn’t find broccolini and the whole family loved it! I’ll be making this white pizza with broccolini, fontina, and sausage again, that’s for sure.
This white pizza with broccolini, fontina, and sausage was a delicious combination! I made a large pizza using 9 ounces of dough. By the time I piled on all of the ingredients, it was a little overloaded and cooked for 10 minutes at 500°F on a preheated pizza stone. I needed to add a bit more flour to the peel to slide the pizza into the oven. I used fontina (3.5 ounces) and smoked mozzarella (2.75 ounces). We topped the perfectly crisp pizza with a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey and loved every bite.
