Detroit Style Sausage Fennel Pizza

4.60 from 5 votes

Detroit Style Sausage Fennel Pizza

This Detroit Style Sausage Fennel Pizza will absolutely knock your socks off with the perfect crusty crust, gooey cheese and tons of delish sausage on top for BALANCE!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Proof Time2

Total Time2 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

For the Pizza

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 batch Detroit style pizza dough, recipe below
8 ounces sausage
½ small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
8 ounces brick style whole-milk mozzarella cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
½ cup olive oil, mixed with 8 cloves of chopped garlic
red fresno chiles to garnish
red pepper flakes and basil to garnish

For the Dough

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
olive oil as needed

Instructions

For the Dough

Put the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a food processor with a metal blade attachment and pulse to combine. Add 1 cup warm water, then process until a ball forms, about 30 seconds (if a ball does not form, add a bit more flour). Process for another 30 seconds, then roll into a tight ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Proof in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 2 hours.

For the Pizza

Position an oven rack in the bottom of the oven and preheat to 500 F. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium. Cook sausage, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned in spots and cooked though, 5–8 minutes. Transfer sausage to a small bowl and drain any excess fat.
Pour the remaining olive oil in a large, rectangle metal cake pan (roughly 10 x 14inches) or a 12 inch cast iron skillet. Put the dough in the pan and gently stretch it out to fit so the dough reaches the corners.
Drizzle half of the garlic oil sauce on top. Layer the sausage and sliced fennel on the dough. Then lay the cheese cubes all over, especially around the perimeter up to the edge of the pan. Drizzle the rest of the garlic oil sauce on top and scatter with sliced red fresnos.
Bake until bubbly and golden and a crispy cheese crust has formed, 10 to 15 minutes. Use spatula to loosen up the edges and remove the pizza from the metal pan and place on a cutting board. Slice into pieces and garnish.

Notes

Make sure to get the cheese right in the edges of the pan - that's what makes this a characteristic Detroit-style pizza!

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