Sausage and Egg Breakfast Pizza

Last Thursday, I was part of a pizza party.

I feel like those are so 1990′s, right?

People had pizza parties for everything when I was younger: end of softball season, birthdays, graduations, lock-ins, beginning (and ending) of school breaks.

Maybe pizza has fallen off the cool wagon. Seems like people have picked up fancier ingredients like truffles and expensive cheeses and artisan bread that people think you can’t make at home.

I love all of those things, but I think I’m ready to start bringing the pizza party back. It’s so easy and delicious to make homemade pizza – and it definitely costs less than anything with truffles or $10 a pound cheese.

Last Thursday, I went over to Susan’s house to talk food and make pizzas. 

We made dough. Sat and chatted and played with her little boy while the dough rose. Punched it down and to let it rise again. Sampled cookies because, well, because they were warm and we have to be quality control.

Cooked and prepped toppings. Brainstormed what would work best on each pie. Sauteed, cararmelized, chopped, and sprinkled the toppings on the dough before sliding them into a steamy oven and waiting for dinner.

Have you made homemade pizza dough yet?

Please say yes.

Homemade dough is so easy to mix together and it is so, so, so much better than anything you’ll get at the store.

Since we were feeding our husbands for dinner, we made two hearty pizzas.

My contribution?

A Breakfast Pizza.

Homemade sausage gravy as the sauce, topped with scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, more sausage, and rosemary.

Holy moly.

This pizza is no joke. Creamy and salty and spiked with herby rosemary, it’s the perfect topping on this fluffy dough.

We made two different pizzas using Johnsonville Italian Sausage. Did you know they have a pizza recipe contest going on right now? If you have an awesome pizza you make at home, just snap a picture and enter here. The grand prize? A trip to Italy! I couldn’t even imagine how amazing that would be.

I doubt they serve breakfast pizzas like this in Italy, but if they don’t, maybe they should reconsider. I’m sure theirs would still be fancier than mine: prosciutto and eggs plucked from the roost that morning and the most incredible cheese ever.

But since I’m not in Italy today, this is the best this pizza can be.

Breakfast for Dinner just got a whole new meaning.

Sausage and Egg Breakfast Pizza

Makes: 8 – 10 slices

Ingredients:

• 1/2 recipe of my go-to pizza dough (make the entire batch and just use one crust; either make another pizza or freeze the rest for later)
• 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup cheese, shredded
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. Prep the dough, according to the directions, and let the crust rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. While the dough is resting, heat a skillet over medium heat.
3. Brown the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, for 8-10 minutes until the sausage is cooked through.
4. Remove the sausage from the skillet and add the olive oil to the pan.
5. Stir the flour into the oil and remaining sausage fat and mix for 1-2 minutes until all of the flour is combined.
6. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir, letting the milk absorb into the flour mixture.
7. Pour in the remaining cup of milk and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, until the gravy has thickened and no lumps remain. You may need to break up some lumps with your spoon while it’s cooking.
8. After the gravy has thickened, stir the crumbled sausage back into the gravy and remove the pan from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Place a small skillet over medium heat. Beat the 5 eggs in a bowl and add to the pan, stirring occassionally until the eggs are almost cooked. Turn off the heat.
10. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
11. Roll the pizza dough out to fit your pizza stone or baking sheet.
12. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese on top of the dough. Spread the sausage gravy on top of the cheese layer. Add the scrambled eggs to the pizza, top with the remaining cheese, and sprinkle with the rosemary.
13. Bake at 450 degrees for 14-18 minutes until the crust is golden around the edges and the cheese is melted.
14. Let the pizza cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

PS: About a month ago, I also got to go on a trip with Johnsonville to learn more about their “Blog for a Cause” holiday even coming up soon. I can’t wait to share more details with you – it’s something that hits close to my heart and I’m so excited to share!

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