Fennel Sausage Pizza

This easy Fennel Sausage Pizza is a flavorful white pizza made by topping creamy ricotta cheese with chili garlic oil, finely shaved fennel, and juicy fennel sausage. The homemade artisan pizza crust makes this pizza taste like it came from an Italian pizzeria! 

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Special Tools You’ll Need

This is a straightforward recipe, but to create restaurant-style pizza at home I suggest using the following tools: 

• Pizza Stone – The pizza crust turns out SO much better when you cook it on a hot pizza stone instead of a pizza pan. 
• Pizza Peel – Makes it easier (and safer!) to transfer the pizza onto the hot pizza stone after adding the toppings. 
• Pizza Cutter – A chef’s knife works too, but a pizza cutter is quicker. 

What You’ll Need for the Pizza Dough and Toppings

A full list of ingredients with their measurements can be found in the recipe card below, but let’s go over the key items you’ll need to assemble the pizza. 

• Artisan Pizza Dough — This is my all-time favorite pizza dough! It’s very easy to make using just flour, water, active dry yeast, and salt. The only “hard” part is the lengthy rise time, but the dough can be left on your counter all day and used for tonight’s dinner. Don’t have time? You can always make this pizza with a store bought crust instead.
• Chili Garlic Oil — I scaled down my bulk chili garlic oil recipe to make just enough for two pizzas. All you need is olive oil, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes for a just-spicy-enough kick of heat. 
• Sausage — I used fennel sausage, but a mild Italian sausage works too.
• Fennel — You’ll need a whole bulb for this pizza. Remove the core before thinly shaving it. 
• Cheeses — I prefer using whole milk ricotta instead of red pizza sauce, plus shredded mozzarella since it’s a great melting cheese and Parmesan for flavor. 
• Fresh Basil — Wait to add the basil until the pizza comes out of the oven. It’s a tender herb that will burn if it goes onto the pizza before baking! 

How to Make the Fennel Sausage Pizza

Katie’s Tip: The pizza stone needs to be screaming hot to ensure a crispy crust with a nice chewiness to it. I let mine preheat in the oven for a full 45 minutes to mimic a pizza oven. 

1. Make the pizza dough: I have a separate recipe that shares my top tips and tricks for making artisan pizza dough at home. So long as you allow plenty of time for the dough to rise, you’re good to go! 
2. Prepare the toppings: The sausage needs to be browned and crumbled into bite-sized pieces since the pizza won’t be in the oven for long enough to cook it otherwise. You’ll also need to shave the fennel and whisk together the chili garlic oil. 
3. Assemble the pizza: Always shape the pizza dough on a floured surface and sprinkle the pizza peel with flour and semolina to prevent any sticking. Once that’s done, you can load up on the toppings. 
4. Bake: If use my pizza dough recipe and you preheat the pizza stone as suggested, your fennel and sausage pizza will only need about 5 to 7 minutes in a 550ºF oven (or just crank up the heat as high as your oven will go).
5. Broil to blister the edges of the crust: This perfectly mimics a pizza oven, but you’ll need to watch your pizza like a hawk to prevent it from burning. 

Our Favorite Sides to Serve with Pizza 

This homemade sausage fennel pizza goes perfectly with the following simple sides: 

• Homemade Caesar Salad
• Crispy Prosciutto Salad
• Tomato Panzanella 
• Fresh Zucchini Tomato Salad
• Lemon Roasted Broccolini
• Strawberry Bruschetta