pizza.

That would be a spinach artichoke sausage goat cheese pizza. What would Mellow Mushroom call that? I have no idea how to make that name any shorter but geez was this good. I discovered a few keys to home pizza making that I think bear repeating, it made the crust on this pizza wonderfully crisp:

• Crank the oven up to at least 450, 500 is probably better but I just wasn't sure my rickety oven could handle that.
• Put your cold pizza stone on the bottom rack of the cold oven before you preheat it so that they both heat up together.  

I believe these two steps together produced a nice crisp crust which I've found is pretty hard to achieve. I blame my lack of a wood-burning oven. For an extensive look at baking pizza at home, the folks at Slice have written miles on the subject and it's an excellent resource for the home cook. I plan to work my way through the recipes whenever I have the forethought to make my own pizza dough instead of buying the dough balls from Harris Teeter.

Here's a loose recipe for Sunday night's version, adapted from this lovely tome:

1. If you're making your own dough from scratch, it should have completed its second rising and be ready to use before you start preheating the oven. If you don't happen to have three hours to kill, take your dough (I go with the dough balls they sell in the deli section because to me it's the best combination of taste and convenience) out of the refrigerator and let it warm up a little.
2. Position your oven rack to the lowest setting, making sure to allow room to maneuver the pizza in and out of the oven later.
3. Place your pizza stone (if you have one) in the oven and preheat the oven to 450. 
4. While your oven is preheating, saute 1/2 lb. of sweet italian sausage until thoroughly cooked. Add 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced and saute until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.
5. Drain and rinse 1 can of artichoke hearts. Puree in a hand blender or chop finely with 2 tablespoons of fresh basil. Mix together with the cooked sausage and set aside until ready to top your pie.
6. I have a pizza stone but no pizza peel, so I waited until my oven had preheated and then placed the preheated stone on my stovetop while I stretched the dough out by hand and plopped it directly onto the stone.
1. To stretch out by hand I hold the dough ball close to one edge perpendicular to the floor, using the thumb of both hands to pinch and form the outer crust, and turn it around and around, letting gravity naturally stretch the dough out.  This is much easier to me than using a rolling pin since you can make the dough do what you want it to but it's also easy to cause tears; it's really up to you. If you do decide to use a rolling pin make sure your dough is room temperature or it will be frustrating!
7. I like to use simple sauces for a base, like crushed tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and basil or plain olive oil and basil or marinara sauce. Just make sure to add a little seasoning if you're using something like plain crushed tomatoes or, at least to me, the finished dish will taste a little tomato-y. For this recipe I used 14 ounces crushed tomatoes (and I didn't season it but I should have. Now we all know better :) )
8. Cover the surface of the pie with a few handfuls fresh baby spinach, just so the pie is covered in a thin layer.
9. Dollop the sausage mixture in rounded tablespoonfuls all over the surface of the pizza dough. The topping mixture isn't very spreadable so it's best do dollop it in small amounts and closely together so you don't have to do too much spreading.
10. Crumble 2-4 ounces (depending on your taste) fresh goat cheese over the surface. (Now would be a good time to add sundried tomatoes; I did not but hey, it's your pizza.)
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until the crust is evenly brown and lovely.
12. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing up.  

Glory.

Glory.

Hallelujah.

Enjoy pizza night! Break out the pinot noir if you've got it; this guy would really appreciate it.