Sausage and Shallot Pizza
October 23, 2021
We are not exactly sure when the tradition of pizza for Halloween dinner started. I imagine it was something along the lines of our mother being tired of cooking dinner while attempting to get us into costumes, breaking into her pocketbook and ordering a pizza for dinner. This was well before the years of artisan pizza parlors offering wood fired pizzas topped with house made burrata, but kids don’t care about such things. That’s what makes traditions so impactful. It's not about the quality of the chain pizza or even really about the pizza at all. It is about the memory and joy of experiencing something special together. So even though our days of hurriedly donning our costumes in order to maximize our candy collecting time is over, we still have pizza for Halloween dinner.
Now over the years we have had various incarnations of pizza on Halloween night from frozen pizza (college days) to the aforementioned artisanal pizza picked up on the way home but one of our absolute favorites has to be our sausage, jalapeño, and shallot pizza. This pizza is a combination of everything we love. It is savory, spicy, and cheesy to say the least. Not to mention it is a breeze to throw together and it is impressive enough for you to make it for your friends. For this version, we like to use a combination of store bought and homemade ingredients, but you can replace any of these items as needed with your favorite recipe or store-bought item. To save time we buy quality pizza dough. We like to buy the dough that is uncooked and not pre-shaped so we can use our own preferred cooking vessel. In this case we use a cast iron pan because it results in an irresistibly crispy crust. Plus, no serving dish needed.
We do like to make our own sauce for our pizzas because it is just a handful of ingredients (most of them likely on hand) and yields a fresh, tangy flavor. For the toppings we use a combination of sausage, shallots, and jalapenos. The shallots are sliced thinly so they get crisp and sweet in the oven. The sausage is the perfect savory backdrop, and the jalapeño adds just the right spice. Of course, pizza is the ultimate flexible dish and any of these can be adjusted to fit your taste. We hope that you enjoy your Halloween this year and maybe add pizza to the list of your traditions. You will find us this Halloween night, handing out treats to the neighborhood kids and simmering pizza sauce on the stove with eager anticipation of our annual tradition being pulled out of the oven crispy and warm. Happy Halloween!!
Sausage, Jalapeño, and Shallot Pizza
Ingredients:
1 Package Store bought Pizza Dough
1 28oz can San Marzano Whole Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves Minced
½ tsp Dried Oregano
¼ tsp Dried Chili Flakes (optional)
¼ cup Ripped up Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive Oil
1lb Sweet Italian Sausage
1 Large Shallot Sliced Thin
2 Jalapeños Sliced Thin
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Put about 2 tbsp of olive oil into the bottom of a 12-inch cast iron pan. Take your dough and place in the oil and roll it around to coat. Allow to rest on the counter while you prepare your other ingredients.
In a medium size saucepan add 1 tbsp of olive oil and allow to warm over medium heat. Add your minced garlic to the oil and cook until just fragrant. It should take less than a minute. Do not allow the garlic to turn dark brown. Add your tomatoes, dried oregano, chili flakes, ½ tsp of salt. Allow to come to a boil and then turn the temperature down to a simmer. Use the spoon, spatula, or a tomato masher and crush the tomatoes in the pan as they cook. This should be easy to do as it continues to cook down. Continue cooking the tomatoes until the liquid has reduced in half about 5-8 minutes. It should still be pretty loose and spoonable. Add your basil and allow to cook for about a minute longer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
While your sauce is cooking, brown your sausage and drain. Take your rested dough and stretch it to fill the bottom of your cast iron pan. This may take some patience, but resting should help. Top with a generous layer of the sauce and then the mozzarella cheese. Then arrange your sausage, shallots and jalapeños on the top.
Place the whole cast iron in the oven and bake at 450 degrees F until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is browned and bubbling about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Slice and serve.