White Pizza with Sausage, Pancetta, Leeks, and Parmesan

Apolinaras and I recently celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary with a trip to Martha’s Vineyard over Memorial Day weekend! I really can’t believe it’s already been eight years. It was our last vacation before the baby arrives, so there was nothing on our agenda except relaxing.

We spent most of our time wandering around Edgartown and enjoying the gorgeous scenery.

We climbed to the top of the Edgartown lighthouse,

and visited a couple different beaches, including South Beach. The water was actually warm enough that I got in, but the waves were so strong that one knocked me over! So, I spent the rest of the time reading on the beach and watching Apolinaras splash around instead.

He also had fun collecting shells and building me this little present, which was super cute (look carefully at what the shells spell out!). I really can’t wait to see him play with our daughter in the sand!

Our hotel, the Vineyard Square Hotel and Suites, was in a fabulous location within walking distance of everywhere you’d like to stroll in Edgartown. I also loved their large front porch, where we enjoyed treats almost every afternoon – yay for iced chai and carrot cake!

We also had a couple of lovely causal meals, and one of our favorites was at Offshore Ale Company in Ocean Bluffs, which we just visited for the afternoon. We split clam chowder and a pizza topped with duck, leeks, and pancetta. I’m always ready for pizza, but Apolinaras is a bit of a pizza snob and really only enjoys gourmet pies with unique flavor combos. This one hit the spot so much that I was recently inspired to whip up a similar version at home.

I spread the crust with a white sauce featuring asiago cheese and then topped it with spicy Andouille chicken sausage, pancetta, leeks, and freshly shaved parmesan. This pie was incredibly tasty and filling – I can’t wait to make it again.

White Pizza with Sausage, Pancetta, Leeks, and Parmesan
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Toppings:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Andouille chicken sausage, sliced
4 ounces pancetta
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, chopped

White Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk (I used 2%)
1 1/2 cups shredded asiago cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

For pizza assembly:
1 pound of your favorite pizza dough (I used whole wheat from Trader Joe’s)
1/2 cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese

Directions:
To prepare the toppings, heat olive oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sausages, pancetta, and leeks and sauté 12 to 15 minutes or sausages are browned and leeks are tender.

To make the sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one more minute or until mixture starts to brown. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and mix in asiago cheese and salt. Heat 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth, whisking occasionally.

To make the pizza, heat oven and a pizza stone to 500˚F. Place pizza dough onto a surface spread with semolina flour and spread dough into desired shape. Place shaped dough onto a greased peel or pizza pan and evenly spread sauce on top; sprinkle evenly with toppings. Either place pizza directly onto the pizza stone if using a peel or place the pizza pan on top of the pizza stone and bake at 500°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown; sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Cool for 5 minutes and cut into slices. Makes 8 slices.

Nutrition: 423 calories, 24.2g fat, 3.2g fiber, 28.8g protein per slice
Cost: $1.33 per slice