Sausage and red pepper jelly pizza

Every blind hog finds an acorn every now and again.

Alex is coming to supper. I just love Alex. He’s one of Noah’s best friends and he is an adventurous eater. I am in the last throes of two weeks of doing absolutely nothing and enjoying it immensely. So going to the supermarket is just not going to happen. But since I am an excessive food purchaser, there’s plenty in the house. I just don’t know if it goes together.

Pizza. I’ll do pizza. I have the dough. I have a pound of bulk hot sausage. I have peppers. I have onions. I have cheese, although sharp Cheddar rather than mozzarella. What I don’t have is sauce. I briefly consider going naked. Not me. Just no sauce on the pie. And then I think of one of the South’s most classic condiments, of which I have a precious plenty. Red pepper jelly.

Spicy and sweet. Yes. Alex watches as I spread the red pepper jelly on the dough. I can see those wheels turning. He’s not sure about this. I’m not either. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt if this just sucks, Alex will gamely wolf it down and tell me it was absolutely delicious. As I said, I just love that boy.

It is just absolutely delicious. The combination of the spicy sausage and the sweet jelly is addictive. The assertiveness of the Cheddar plays well with the sausage and jelly. I get the ultimate complement from Noah: “We can have this again.” And we will. In 10 minutes the entire pie is gone. Every blind hog.

Sausage and Red Pepper Jelly Pizza

½ pound bulk hot pork sausage

1 medium green pepper, diced

½ medium red onion, diced

1 ball pizza dough

Red pepper jelly

2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 550 or as hot as it will go.

Fry the sausage until it is crumbly and nicely browned (don’t just cook the sausage until it’s no longer pink – actually brown it). Set aside. In remaining sausage grease, sauté green pepper and onion until it just begins to soften.

Roll out the pizza dough to about 12 inches in diameter, dusting it with a bit of flour if it sticks. Spread a generous amount of red pepper jelly on the dough. Top with cheese and then the green peppers, onions and sausage.

Bake for 7-8 minutes or until the crust turns a nice golden brown.

Notes: A pizza stone is a great tool for making pizza in the oven. If you don’t have one use a cookie sheet and adjust the shape of the pizza accordingly. Publix and Trader Joe’s have great pre-made pizza dough. If you don’t have either purveyor, get pizza dough from a local pizza shop.