Italian Sausage Pizza with Giardiniera

Before going in the oven add the chopped giardiniera as a topping

Once baked, the spicy vegetables add great zest to the pizza,

A few weeks ago, I ate dinner at Wolf Peach Restaurant with my daughter, while in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  They have fantastic Wood-Fired pizza.  We ordered the Italian Sausage pizza.  Interestingly enough, besides the expected tomato,oregano, mozzarella, pecorino, and italian sausage, it also was topped with chopped Chicago-Style Giardiniera.  Chicago-Style means hot or spicy. 

Most people are familiar with the brand sold in grocery stores, Mezzetta, it has a red and yellow label.  Giardiniera is bell peppers, celery, carrot, cauliflower, and gherkins all pickled in vinegar.  The Chicago-Style, which is typically put on pizzas in Chicago, uses serrano peppers instead of bell peppers so it is nice and spicy.  

Trader Joe's has just started carrying a new product called Spicy Pickled Vegetables.  It is in the refrigerator section in a square plastic jar.  It is equal to the Chicago-Style Giardiniera.  So Save yourself a trip to multiple stores, because Trader Joe's has all the ingredients required for making this delicious pizza.  Don't forget to crack open a beer while you eat this, because it is spicy and the cold beer will do just the trick for cooling the heat.

As Always,

ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS- all from Trader Joe's

1 bag pizza dough (in the refrigerator section)

1 bag quattro formaggio shredded cheese

1 can marinara sauce

1 tsp. oregano

1 package of Sweet Italian Sausage

1 jar spicy pickled vegetables, drained

         Set dough out on counter for at least one hour to come to room temperature. While dough is resting, take casings off of three sausage links and cook in a pan, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.   Roll out dough to fill a round or rectangular greased sheet pan.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Use 1/2 the can of marinara sauce, and spread evenly over dough. Sprinkle with dried oregano. Spread 1/2 the bag of shredded cheese over the sauce.  Top with the cooked Italian sausage, and the chopped spicy vegetables.

      Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Remove pizza from its pan(very carefully) so the bottom does not get soggy, and cool slightly before cutting.