Four Cheese Pizza with Sausage and Peppers

This four cheese pizza with sausage and peppers is everything you want in a deliciously savory pizza! Melty mozzarella and creamy ricotta top the pizza along with crumbles of Italian sausage and strips of sweet roasted red peppers. Finish the pizza with a grating of Parmesan and fresh oregano leaves to bring all the flavors together!

If there is one dish that I will never turn down, it's sausage and peppers. Usually, we'll enjoy a sausage and peppers sandwich on a soft roll with a caesar salad on the side and there is nothing better! For another wonderful pizza combination, try my Spinach Feta Pizza.

This pizza with sausage and peppers is strongly inspired from the classic Italian American dish. The pizza starts with four cheeses including melty mozzarella, creamy ricotta and savory Pecorino and Parmesan cheese. Here is my recipe for a Pizza Sandwich.

Once the four cheese pizza base is set, add cooked and crumbled Italian sausage and roasted red peppers. The combination of melty and creamy cheeses with the savory and rich sausage and sweet peppers is just out of this world!

For another fun pizza try my Fig Prosciutto Pizza with Balsamic, the fresh Figs are wonderful.

🍅 Ingredients

• Pizza Dough: Leave the dough at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, which will help the dough relax and make it easier to roll out.
• Marinara Sauce: Keep it easy and your your favorite jarred marinara or use leftover marinara from Sunday gravy.
• Mozzarella Cheese: Look for a dry mozzarella cheese which will have less moisture. I prefer to grate my own mozzarella, but pre-shredded always works in a pinch!
• Ricotta Cheese: Look for a low-moisture ricotta or "basket ricotta". This style of ricotta is thicker and creamier and won't have excess moisture that could weigh down your pizza dough. If you have a Whole Foods near you, look for Bellwether Farms ricotta which is one of my favorites!
• Parmesan Cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano is an aged hard Italian cheese that has fantastic saltiness. You can often find Parmesan grated or use a hand grater to grate a block of cheese yourself.
• Pecorino Cheese: Pecorino cheese is a hard Italian sheeps milk cheese that grates very well. Pecorino is much saltier and stronger in flavor than Parmesan and is a great garnish to add more saltiness and savoriness to yoru dishes.
• Italian Sausage: Most Italian sausage is seasoned with fennel and oregano and comes in mild or spicy with hot red peppers added.
• Fresh Herbs: Fresh oregano and, or basil leaves for garnish.

🍕 How to Make Pizza with Sausage and Red Peppers

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit at least 30 minutes minutes before cooking and place a pizza stone in the oven to preheat.
2. Cook the sausage and bring a skillet to medium-high heat and add Italian sausage. Break the sausage up into crumbles and cook the sausage until cooked through and edges are caramelized and slightly crispy. Once done, set aside.
3. Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10 inch circle.
4. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce onto the pizza, leaving a border around the dough.
5. Top the pizza with slices of mozzarella, dollops of ricotta cheese, the crumbled sausage and slices of roasted red peppers.
6. Finish the pizza with grated pecorino cheese, grated parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
7. Transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone and cook the pizza for 5-8 minutes until the cheese and bubbly and melted and dough is golden brown.

Substitutions and Variations

• If you don't eat pork, substitute with Italian spiced chicken sausage.
• Make the pizza spicy and use spicy Italian sausage or add red pepper flakes or Calabrian peppers.
• Instead of using jarred peppers, roast your own peppers! Place a whole red pepper under the broiler and turn until charred on all sides. Then remove the charred layer and slice into strips.

More Pizza ideas

Even more Pizza Inspiration

Four Cheese Pizza with Sausage and Peppers

Samantha Ferraro

LittleFerraroKitchen.com

This four cheese pizza with sausage and peppers is everything you want in a deliciously savory pizza! Garnish with fresh oregano and grated Parmesan.

5 from 12 votes

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Main

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 2 pizzas

Calories 1703 kcal

Equipment

• ▢
  Pizza Stone
• ▢
  Pizza Cutter
• ▢
  Pizza Peel

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 pound pizza dough room temperature, cut in half
• ▢ All-purpose flour for dusting
• ▢ 1 cup marinara sauce
• ▢ 1 cup mozzarella cheese sliced or shredded
• ▢ 1 cup full fat ricotta cheese drained of excess moisture
• ▢ ½ pound Italian sausage about 2 links, crumbled
• ▢ 1 jarred roasted red pepper cut into strips
• ▢ ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ ¼ cup grated Pecorino cheese

Toppings

• ▢ Fresh oregano leaves
• ▢ Fresh basil leaves roughly torn
• ▢ Olive oil
• ▢ Chili flakes or Calabrian peppers, optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit at least 30 minutes minutes before cooking and place a pizza stone in the oven to preheat.
• Cook the sausage and bring a skillet to medium-high heat and add Italian sausage. Break the sausage up into crumbles and cook the sausage until cooked through and edges are caramelized and slightly crispy. Once done, set aside and drain on a paper towel lined plate.
• Roll out both halves of the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10 inch circle.
• Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce onto both pizzas, leaving a border around the dough.
• Top the pizzas with the slices or shredded mozzarella, dollops of ricotta cheese, the crumbled sausage and slices of roasted red peppers.
• Finish the pizza with grated pecorino cheese, grated parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
• Transfer the pizza onto the pizza stone and cook the pizza for 5-8 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melted and dough is golden brown.

Notes

• If a pizza stone is not available, use a baking sheet! Turn a baking sheet upside down and preheat that in the oven. 
• Look for a thick ricotta with less moisture or drain ricotta in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl to drain excess moisture. This will make for a thicker and creamier ricotta cheese. 
• Dust some flour under the dough before adding the toppings, so it transfers easily into the oven. 

Nutrition

Calories: 1703kcalCarbohydrates: 85gProtein: 98gFat: 110gSaturated Fat: 57gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 29gCholesterol: 317mgSodium: 4351mgPotassium: 1383mgFiber: 7gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 5932IUVitamin C: 167mgCalcium: 1209mgIron: 8mg

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