It's "Pie" Time You Had Some.

Oh sun, when will you return and save me from these craptastic photos?

After choking down a slice of pizza from one of those national chains I decided that I could not bear another day without a slice of homemade pizza. (Try our new cardboard crust, it's radically devoid of flavor!!)
My plan (and pie) came together perfectly. Not only was I able to snag the very last bulb of fennel from the store, this pleasing pizza enabled a few festive leftovers to make a graceful exit from my fridge. I used whole wheat dough which worked quite nicely with the assertive flavors that topped it. I generally don't like to pressure you into a dish dear reader but if this sounds like your kind of pie you should definitely give it a try. No bib needed for this feisty feast, even sans sauce your satisfaction will be complete.

Sausage Pizza with Fennel, Onion and Peppers.

1 ball o pizza dough, enough to make one 12 inch round pizza

8 oz Sausage (true confession time, I used Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage)

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper sliced

1 bulb fennel, sliced

Olive oil, if needed

8 oz mozzarella, shredded

1/4 shredded Parmesan

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Coat a cookie sheet lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll (or toss) your pizza dough into a nice circle. Cook sausage in a medium fry pan until nearly cooked through. Add garlic and pepper flakes to sausage and cook until nicely browned. Set sausage aside. To that same pan add enough oil to the drippings to equal 1 TBLSP. Add the onions, peppers and fennel and cook over medium heat until lightly browned and soft.
Sprinkle sausage evenly over dough and top with mozzarella, Parmesan, and onion/pepper/fennel mixture. Pop the pizza into the oven and cook 16-20 minutes. Your pizza is done when the cheese melts and bubbles and the dough is cooked through.