Caramelized Onion & Sausage Sourdough Pizza. What a mouthful. Both literally and figuratively. I’m fully obsessed with this pizza combination and know you will be, too!
As a Chicagoan, I feel like it’s assumed by outsiders that my favorite pizza is “Chicago Style” or deep-dish. Um, it’s not. And I don’t think that’s the case for most Chicagoans (we like tavern style with a crunchy cracker-thin crust – yum!). BUT my favorite pizza is a slightly chewy, slightly crunchy crust with ~artisanal~ toppings: butternut squash, full-on salads, honey, and even eggs. I’m here for it all.
But today I’m sharing my latest favorite: Caramelized Onion & Sausage Sourdough pizza.
Matt whipped together a sourdough starter a couple weeks ago (or was it months? time is construct!). With it, he’s made 4 loaves of bread and then had the genius idea of sourdough pizza. Because, duh, who wouldn’t love a chewy, crispy, sour pizza crust? I wanted to take things a step further with some savory caramelized onion but also stay true to my roots with some mild Italian pork sausage. Because Chicago, duh.
How To
It’s really so easy. Matt used this recipe from YouTube but forewarning: the dough needs to sit overnight! So don’t expect pizza tonight.
Once your pizza crusts are rolled out, heat up the oven and your pizza stone to 500F for 45 minutes to an hour. While that’s all going on, heat a pan over high heat and add avocado oil once hot. Add your peeled and sliced onions along with the salt to the pan for a quick heat. Once your onions get a little brown (3-4 minutes), turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes or so, stirring every 10 minutes, until the onions have cooked down significantly and are a nice, caramel-y brown.
While your onions mingle in your pan, prepare your pork sausage until browned and cooked most of the way through (to avoid dryness) and set aside. Now is also a good time to prepare your red sauce (assuming you’re not using store bought); throw all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor. That’s it.
Now it’s time to assemble the pizzas: sauce, toppings, cheese. Transfer to pizza stone and bake. I followed the YouTube tutorial. 500F for 5 minutes and then broil for 1-2 minutes until your crust and cheese are yummy and browned.
Tips: if you don’t have a pizza peel (I don’t), make your pizza on a sheet of parchment paper. Transfer the parchment paper + pizza to the pizza stone for easy moving in and out of the oven.
Enjoy!
Caramelized Onion & Sausage Sourdough Pizza
Ingredients
For the pizza
- 1 sourdough pizza dough ball
- 2 white or yellow onions
- 1/2 pckg mild Italian pork sausage
- shredded mozzarella as much or as little as you want
- 1 garlic clove
- seasonings fresh basil, oregano
For the red sauce
- 28 oz san marzano tomatoes canned, drained
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500F. Heat up a medium to large pan over high heat and add cooking oil to the pan once hot. Peel and thinly slice onions and add to hot pan for 2-3 minutes, until slightly translucent. Turn heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
- In a separate pan, brown your pork sausage until nearly cooked through and set aside once done.
- Using a food processor or blender, combine ingredients for red sauce and blend. Taste test and add additional salt if necessary.
- On your rolled out pizza dough, add the red sauce and all toppings: sausage, caramelized onion, as much cheese as you want! Transfer pizza to pizza stone and bake for 5 minutes. Turn broiler on and broil for 1-2 minutes, until pizza crust is your desired color and doneness.
- Top with fresh seasonings (basil is my top choice!), slice, and serve!
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