This grandma pizza is a delicious comfort food meal, loaded with Italian sausage, green bell pepper, onion, and mushrooms.
If your idea of pizza bliss is a thick, bready square slice topped with rich tomato sauce and lots of toppings, then this might just be your new favorite recipe.
Grandma pizza hails from New York, where Italian grandmothers used Sicilian pizza dough recipes they knew by heart to whip up weeknight dinners for their families. Because the dough isn't given as much time to proof after it's pressed out in the pan, this style of sheet pan pizza is a bit thinner than traditional Sicilian pizza. However, it's still incredibly tender, flavorful (thanks to an abundance of olive oil), and sturdy enough to be eaten with one hand.
Just whip up a batch of my Sheet Pan Pizza Dough, let it rise, and press it out on an oiled baking sheet. My favorite is grandma pizza with sausage and tons of veggies, but feel free to use the following recipe as a template for any combination of toppings.
Looking for more crowd pleasers? Here are a few everyone is sure to love:
Grandma Pizza with Sausage, Pepper, Onion, and Mozzarella
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- large rimmed baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 recipe Sheet Pan Pizza Dough (prepared through step 3)
- ½ pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 12 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, shredded (2½ cups)
- 2 cups New York Style Pizza Sauce (or your favorite store-bought pizza sauce)
- ½ medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- ½ small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 to 4 large cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup finely grated aged gouda or aged cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F with a rack set in the bottom position.
- Grease a large (13 x 18-inch) rimmed baking sheet with the olive oil. Place the dough in the pan and press it out with your fingers until it reaches all the way to the edges and corners of the pan. If the dough keeps shrinking back, let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes and try again. After the dough is pressed out all the way to the edges of the pan, cover the whole pan with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let it rest (proof) for 30 minutes.
- Cook the sausage in a medium skillet over medium heat until it is no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. As the sausage cooks, use a wooden spoon to break it up into small, bite-size pieces. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- When the dough has finished proofing, scatter all but ½ cup of the mozzarella evenly on top. Use a large spoon to dollop the sauce over the cheese, and gently spread it out in an even layer. Top with the sausage, pepper, onion, and mushrooms, season with a couple pinches of salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and scatter on the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella and the finely shredded aged gouda cheese.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven. Bake the pizza for 15 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through, until the bottom of the crust is golden brown. (Use a spatula to carefully lift up one corner of the pizza to check underneath.)
- Remove the pizza from the oven. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.
Michael says
Im enjoying your site very much and have one question.
When making the pan pizza dough do you place the dough in the fridge after the dough has doubled in size or after the mix?
Looking forward to trying your pizza receipes.
Thank you
Michael
Canadian Pizza Lover
Peggy Paul Casella says
No need to refrigerate the dough! However, if you do want to prepare the dough ahead, refrigerate it overnight after you've mixed it and balled it up, then let it come fully to room temperature before you try to press it out in your sheet pan. If it's cold, it won't stretch.
Michael says
Some people believe that same day dough doesnt taste as good as overnight. Do you find that true or is the taste basically the same
Thank you
Michael
Peggy Paul Casella says
Some recipes really benefit from a longer ferment in the fridge, but I think my sheet pan pizza dough is delicious with a simple rise on the counter. Let me know what you think!