Kale Pizza

with Fennel Sausage

Makes one 14-inch pizza

This is a “kale pizza” with sausage, and not a “sausage pizza” with kale. It’s the pizza that convinced me that kale deserves to appear on more pies: I love the way it gets crackly and toasty-flavored in a hot oven, and it can work on pretty much any style of pizza. I prefer Tuscan kale as a pizza topper, because its flat leaves crisp up more evenly, but you can experiment with other kale varieties, as well as spinach. Make sure you really cover the top of the pie with kale before baking, as it will shrink up a bit as it cooks.

Fennel Sausage

Makes 2 pounds

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 4 ounces pork shoulder
• 4 ounces fatback (or pork belly)
• 1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons cold water

Cut the chicken, pork, and fatback into small cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Add the fennel, red pepper flakes, paprika, and salt and toss well. Line a baking sheet with parchment and scatter the seasoned meat in an even layer. Freeze until the meat is very firm, about 1 hour.

Using a meat grinder fitted with the small die, grind the meat. Transfer to a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the vinegar and water. Continue mixing until the meat is tacky to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. The sausage can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.

For Serving

• One 250-gram portion Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
• ⅓ cup Quick Tomato Sauce
• 4 ounces (about ½ cup) Fennel Sausage or loose Italian sausage
• 1½ cups shredded (¼-inch ribbons) Tuscan kale
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup finely grated pecorino Toscano cheese

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Place a pizza stone, pizza steel, or baking sheet in the oven to preheat. Stretch the dough into a 14-inch round and place on a floured pizza peel. Spread the sauce around the dough, leaving a ½-inch border. Top with dime-size pieces of sausage, making sure to cover most of the pie. Top with a layer of kale and lightly press it flat. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt. Bake on the preheated pizza stone, steel, or baking sheet until crispy on the bottom, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, season with a pinch of red pepper flakes and a good amount of black pepper, and sprinkle the pecorino over the pie. Serve.

The Takeaway

If you’re feeling ambitious, this pizza is a great reason to make your own sausage. The homemade fennel sausage is a versatile recipe that’s easy to make (so long as you have a sausage grinder). Or feel free to use store-bought loose sausage—sweet or hot, depending on your preference. A lot of pizza recipes will have you cook the sausage in a skillet before adding it to the pie, but I like to put dime-size clumps of raw sausage on the pie, which are small enough to cook through as the pizza bakes.