Lamb Sausage Pizza with Confit Tomatoes and Fennel
This tasty pizza is covered with flavorful, crumbled homemade lamb merguez sausage, fragrant confit tomatoes, shallots and garlic, shaved fennel and cheese.
All-purpose flour,as needed, for rolling out the dough
2tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil,divided
½cupthinly sliced fennel
1½cupsshredded Asiago cheese
1cupgrated Parmesan cheese
Fennel fronds,for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
For the lamb sausage:
In a small skillet over medium heat add the coriander, cumin and fennel and dry toast until fragrant, shaking the pan occasionally, about 2 minutes. Remove and pound with a mortar and pestle.
Add to a medium mixing bowl with the lamb, cilantro, garlic, salt, paprika, red pepper and cayenne. Use hands to carefully mix the lamb mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least one day and up to 5.
When ready to use, heat a medium cast-iron pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add lamb mixture and cook, breaking up the mixture with a wooden spoon, until browned all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
For the confit tomatoes:
Heat oven to 350ºF. Add the tomatoes, shallots and garlic to a small roasting dish and cover with the olive oil. Roast until the tomatoes are blistering and bubbling and shallots and garlic are tender, about 45 minutes.
For assembly:
Place pizza stone on grill or in oven and heat to 500ºF.
Divide the dough in half and on a lightly floured surface, working one half at a time, roll out each half of dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin. Place the dough on piece of parchment paper on top of the pizza peel. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Rub the olive oil and the confit garlic over the pizza dough including the edges. Use a pizza peel to slide the dough with parchment paper underneath it onto the pizza stone. Cook until crust is a pale brown and bubbly, about 6 minutes.
Remove from grill or oven and spread ½ cup of the confit tomatoes and shallots over the pizza as well as the fennel. Top with 1 cup of the Asiago and ½ cup of Parmesan followed by 1 cup of the lamb sausage. Return to the pizza stone and continue to cook until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly, about 8 minutes.
Remove and set aside then repeat with the remaining dough and ingredients. Garnish with fennel fronds (optional) and cut into 8 equal slices before serving.