So this recipe kind of took me by surprise. It was one of the first Fridays of the school year and I was tired. My oldest was going to a football game and we needed to eat early. I was going to the grocery store the next day, so we didn’t have a ton of things in the house, but we had some odds and ends that needed to be used up–flatbreads in the freezer, leftover pesto, half a pound of Italian sausage that I didn’t want to re-freeze, a zucchini on the brink, some leftover pizza sauce. So I just started throwing things together and came up with this Italian Sausage Flatbread Pizza.
Turns out it was a hit. My kids LOVED it. It was quick and easy (and so was the cleanup!) It was a fun twist on our usual Papa John’s order of pepperoni (half with pepperoncinis.) Ingredients that normally freak them out (like pesto and ricotta) were in such small quantities that they loved them, more like accents than the stars of the show. It was a major winner in every way. I hurried and snapped a pic of our second pizza because I knew I was going to want to share it, but I don’t have any along-the-way pics. I know this disappoints the “why can’t food bloggers just get to the freaking point without a small novel and 52 pictures of their fingers feeling the grains of yeast” crowd greatly. ????
how to make it
Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with foil, place flatbreads on the sheet, and set aside.
If you haven’t cooked your sausage yet, crumble it into the pan and cook completely. When the sausage is done cooking, remove the sausage from the pan, but leave about 2 tablespoons of the drippings in the pan. Cook the zucchini over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, just enough for it to soften. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel and season lightly with salt and pepper.
While the sausage is cooking, spread pizza sauce on the flatbreads. Top with the sausage, zucchini, and shredded mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is melted but not burned.
Remove the pan from oven. Add a few dollops of ricotta cheese evenly distributed over the pizzas. Drizzle with pesto. Cut into pieces and serve immediately.
Italian Sausage Flatbread Pizza
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large Naan loaves such as a 1 8.8 ounce package of Stonefire Naan
- ¼ cup pesto mixed with 2-3 tablespoons of water (enough to get a nice drizzling consistency); we prefer fresh from the deli section, or you can also make your own!
- ½ pound Italian sausage crumbled and cooked
- 1 small zucchini halved and thinly sliced
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded
- ½ cup pizza sauce we love this recipe!
- Ricotta cheese to taste about ¼-⅓ cup will probably do
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450℉. Line a baking sheet with foil, place flatbreads on the sheet, and set aside.
- If you haven't cooked your sausage yet, crumble it into the pan and cook completely. When the sausage is done cooking, remove the sausage from the pan, but leave about 2 tablespoons of the drippings in the pan. Cook the zucchini over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, just enough for it to soften. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- While the sausage is cooking, spread pizza sauce on the flatbreads. Top with the sausage, zucchini, and shredded mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cheese is melted but not burned.
- Remove the pan from oven. Add a few dollops of ricotta cheese evenly distributed over the pizzas. Drizzle with pesto. Cut into pieces and serve immediately.
Questions & Reviews
This is now a lunch staple for me! I love it! I make it on whole wheat pita and add lots of veggies. Thank you for sharing. It is soooooo good. I would never of thought of using red sauce and pesto or putting zucchini on a pizza.
Making this for the second time tonight but doubling it for my kids. So good and fairly easy! I’m going to try to freeze an extra – will see how it comes out of freezer. Thanks!
Tastes amazing and so easy for a busy night!
“Finger feeling the grains of yeast” ???????????? This looks delish!
That looks so good! Thanks!
I’m so trying this one tomorrow night! I’ve got everything but the flat bread!