Yes, I know I posted a pizza recipe just last week… and yes, I know I have about a dozen pizzas on my recipes page.
Here’s the deal. I enjoy making pizza. John and I love eating pizza. In fact, we eat homemade pizza about once a week. So. Here’s another pizza recipe!
John provided the inspiration for this one; he requested a breakfast pizza and I was happy to oblige. I envisioned a pie topped with breakfast staples, namely crumbled sausage and eggs. I made a game-time decision to make individual pizzas, so I divided the dough into 4 equal portions. I haven’t had a personal pizza in years.
It was a good call.
Here’s something you won’t read on many other cooking blogs: you don’t need to make your own dough to make a great pizza! I use Whole Foods organic wheat pizza dough, which is available in the freezer section of most locations. It’s inexpensive, made with whole wheat flour, thaws beautifully, is easy to roll out and form, crisps up perfectly on the outside while remaining chewy on the inside, and tastes fantastic.
Don’t have a Whole Foods around you? Trader Joe’s carries a variety of decent refrigerated pizza doughs, and you could also check out your local pizza joint.
As for what I topped the dough with, it was clearly all about breakfast foods.
A bit of crisp crumbled breakfast sausage,
a combination of sharp cheddar and part-skim mozzarella cheeses,
fresh organic eggs,
and bright green onions.
Baked to perfection… no pizza stone necessary!
I swear by my method of baking the pizza on a baking sheet for most of the cooking time, and then finishing it off right on the oven rack for optimal crust crisping. If you have a pizza stone… go for it. Just know that it’s not absolutely required in order to achieve a gorgeously golden brown crust.
John and I enjoyed these pizzas for dinner, but they would be such a fun and unexpected addition to a weekend breakfast or brunch.
I haven’t always felt this way, but nothing beats a runny yolk… am I right? For a while I preferred my fried eggs over-easy. These days? It’s all about the sunny side up :).
Individual Breakfast Pizzas
Printer-Friendly Recipe
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ball pizza dough, homemade or store-bought, preferably whole wheat (I used a defrosted ball of frozen Whole Foods organic wheat pizza dough)
- flour, for rolling out dough
- 1 Tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1/2 lb uncooked breakfast sausage (I used pork, but chicken or turkey sausage would be fine alternatives – just make sure you seek out uncooked sausage.)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated part-skim low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 4 large eggs, preferably organic
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions, green and white parts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
- Bring dough to room temperature. Divide into 4 equal portions (about 4 oz each). Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Lightly flour a clean, flat work surface. Roll each ball of dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a rimless baking sheet. Brush olive oil evenly over rolled out dough rounds.
- Heat a medium nonstick skillet oven medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage, and place sausage into the hot skillet. Cook, breaking up sausage with the back of a wooden spoon, until crumbled and browned, about 5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Sprinkle cheeses evenly over each pizza dough round. Top with crumbled sausage. Crack one egg on top of the sausage in the center of each pizza. Top with sliced green onions.
- Bake pizzas at 450°F for 8 minutes. Carefully remove the baking sheet from underneath the pizzas, and continue to cook – directly on the oven rack – until the crusts are golden brown, the cheese is melted, and the eggs are set, about 2 additional minutes. Carefully remove pizza from oven with a pizza peel and let cool 2 minutes before serving.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
