A well made pizza is one of my favourite things.
I always make my own dough – it’s rewarding taking the dough from yeast and sugar, through an arm-workout of kneading, to bouts of proving, punching and stretching, adorning with your desired toppings., and finally watching it puff and darken in the oven – before eagerly slicing and biting through its slightly chewy, charred crust into the salty softness underneath.
I know I sound all sentimental, but it really is a labour of love (not that it’s much of a labour at all).
This pizza is topped with an incredibly flavourful ragu. I love the fragrant notes from the fennel seeds, sage and garlic; and the sweetness of honey and white wine.
You’ll find you’ll want to make this ragu over and over – try serving it over pasta next time.
I use my dad’s homemade venison sausages here – which we seem to have a neverending supply of. You can of course use beef or pork sausages – however you should decrease the amount of oil in the ragu. Venison is a very lean meat, so I’ve used quite a lot of oil to compensate. If you use a fattier meat, decrease the oil by a tablespoon or two.
Venison Sausage, Eggplant & Tomato Ragu Pizza
Course: Baking, Mains, Recipes, Snacks2-3
servings50
minutes4
hours30
minutesIngredients
- Pizza Dough
250g flour
150ml lukewarm water
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
- Venison Sausage & Eggplant Ragu
1/4 cup olive oil (plus extra, for drizzling)
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small eggplant (250g), very finely chopped
100g cherry tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
2 good-quality venison sausages (175g)
15g sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
3 tbsp pizza sauce (or 2 tbsp tomato paste diluted with 1 tbsp water)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp dried sage
50g grated mozzarella
Directions
- First, make the pizza dough. Stir yeast with lukewarm water in a bowl to dissolve.
- Place flour into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Turn the speed to medium-low and, with the mixer running, slowly pour in the water. Continue mixing for 15 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add salt and knead to combine.
- Lightly oil a large bowl and add the dough. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm spot for 4 hours.
- Once risen, transfer to a clean work surface and briefly knead. Form a dough ball, cover with a clean tea towel and rise for an additional 30 minutes while you make the ragu.
- Place a pizza stone or tray in your oven, and preheat to the hottest temperature (mine was 240°C fan bake). Always preheat the stone with the oven – placing a cold stone in a hot oven can cause it to crack.
- Heat oil in a large pan over high heat. Add onion, garlic and eggplant and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to catch.
- Squeeze the sausages out of their casings into small pieces, and add to the pan along with ¾ of the cherry tomatoes and the fennel seeds and salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown.
- Add sundried tomatoes and pizza sauce, and cook for 1-2 minutes until the mixture starts to catch. Add wine to deglaze, and simmer for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and stir through honey, sage and lots of pepper.
- To assemble, first sprinkle your pizza peel (or a flat tray with no lip) with polenta and set aside. Stretch the dough, using oiled hands, to a circle roughly 30cm in diameter. Place on your pizza peel.
- Drizzle the base lightly with oil and top evenly with ragu. Slice remaining cherry tomatoes and scatter over top. Sprinkle over mozzarella and season generously.
- Carefully transfer pizza from your pizza peel to your hot pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes, (watching frequently as it can burn quickly), until nicely browned and bubbling.
- Drizzle lightly with olive oil and serve immediately.