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Fennel Sausage, Panna, and Scallions

This is my number-one favorite Pizzeria Mozza pizza, and it’s a direct rip-off of the Norcia pizza they serve at Pellicano. Sausage and panna, or cream, is a classic combination in Umbria. The summer I discovered this pizza I ordered it every time I went to Pellicano, in an effort to figure out what was in the white sauce that was smeared on the crust. When I asked, they told me “panna.” I knew panna was cream, but I couldn’t understand how they could put cream on pizza. Finally, I went back to the kitchen to see for myself, and what I saw was that the cream had been whipped, making it spreadable. Whipping cream for a pizza was such a foreign idea to me that when I started playing with pizzas for the restaurant, I tried to avoid it. I made this pizza with crème fraîche and later with mascarpone—anything not to put whipped cream on a pizza—but the whipped cream was definitely the best.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 1 pizza (serves 1)

Ingredients

1 round of Nancy’s Pizza Dough (page 126)
4 ounces Fennel Sausage, uncooked (page 137)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks (page 274)
1 ounce low-moisture mozzarella, cut or torn into 1/2-inch cubes
3 scallions, thinly sliced on an extreme bias starting at the green ends and moving toward the root ends (white and green parts) or 1/2 cup very thinly sliced red onion
1 tablespoon fennel pollen (see page 19)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare and stretch the dough and preheat the oven according to the instructions given in “Nancy’s Scuola di Pizza” (page 128).

    Step 2

    Roll the fennel sausage meat into two 2-ounce balls and place them on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 500°F for 6 minutes, to partially cook the sausage and render the fat. Remove the sausage from the oven and set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the pizza.

    Step 3

    Brush the rim of the dough with the olive oil and season the entire surface with salt. Spoon the cream into the center of the dough and use the back of the spoon in a circular motion to spread it over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch rim without any cream. Break each ball of sausage into 4 pieces and scatter the pieces over the pizza. Scatter the cheese, then the scallions around the sausage. Slide the pizza into the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown and crispy, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle it with the fennel pollen, cut it into quarters, and serve.

  2. Suggested Wine Pairing

    Step 4

    Rosso Conero (The Marches)

The Mozza Cookbook
TagsPizzaItalianEuropeanSausageMeatMozzarellaCheeseDairyScallionOnionRoot VegetableVegetableMainStarterSnackDinnerNut FreeOven BakeCookbooks
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