Surrounding me there are numerous orchards, farms, co-ops, and Farmer’s Markets that I gratefully visit as often as I can. For this recipe, I procured fresh, local spinach (which lasted me an entire week) and locally made chicken apple sausage from Milburn Orchards. Milburn’s is most notably known for their pick-your-own apples and berries but they also have a wonderful little market and a pay-a-dollar play area for kiddos. On our way to the library a couple weekends ago, we popped into the market for fresh fruit and walked away with a couple baskets full of local treasures. Since we make pizza at least once every two weeks, if not every week, I am often challenged on how to incorporate seasonal vegetables and local proteins into my recipes. The amazingly fresh spinach added a delightful mouthful of umami to this pizza recipe, which was balanced by the subtle hint of sweet from the chicken apple sausage. Definitely a win and definitely staying in the pizza rotation.

Chicken Apple Sausage Pizza with Spinach 

Ingredients:

1 homemade or store bought Pizza Dough

2 Chicken Apple Sausage links

about 1 cup Mozzarella, shredded

about 1 cup shredded Italian Cheese Blend

1 tbsp EVOO, or oil of choice

about 1/4 cup Pizza Sauce

2 cups fresh Spinach

1 fresh Tomato, diced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Preheat a cast iron pizza pan, or pizza pan of choice, in the oven at least 15 minutes. Roll out the dough with a bit of flour or cornmeal until it is large enough to fit on the pizza pan. Remove pizza pan from oven and carefully add the dough to the pan. Return the pan to the oven and flashbake the dough 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Remove the chicken apple sausage from the casing, discard casings. In a cast iron skillet over med high flame, saute the sausage in the EVOO until crisp. Add the diced tomato and continue to cook until the tomatoes have slightly reduced. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the flame. Cover the dough with pizza sauce, layer on the cheese, and finish with the sausage and spinach. Bake the pizza in the oven 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is crisp and the cheese is golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at least 5 minutes before serving.