Ready to switch up your usual tomato-based pizza? This post shares how to make a flavorful Fennel Sausage Pizza with a decadent garlic white sauce you’ll never forget. Enjoy this soon-to-be family favorite in just 40 minutes!
Before I discovered my passion for cooking, Dustin and I used to watch The Food Network routinely. We watched Mario Batali, Giada de Laurentiis, Ina Garten and Alton Brown.
Then one day, we heard about Mario Batali’s new restaurant in Los Angeles called Pizzeria Mozza... And we just knew we had to go! Looking back, I can see the chef in me emerging from moments like these (though I didn’t know it at that time).
I remember our visit to the restaurant as if it were yesterday. We arrived with our dirty car, extremely psyched to have dinner.
The ambiance was just superb... There was a huge beautiful wine bar and long tables. You could already smell some of the amazing dishes coming out of the kitchen.
One of the most unforgettable dishes was the pizza with sausage, fennel, and other fresh delicious ingredients. It was simply one of the best Italian meals we ever had!
And to this day, Dustin and I still can’t exactly remember what was on that pizza. But we sure loved it and decided to make our version at home.
So I did and it was pretty darn good. So darn good, I can’t wait to share it with you too!
What's On This Fennel Sausage Pizza?
You can enjoy this pizza in just 40 minutes! Here’s what you’ll need...
For The Garlic White Sauce Base:
- Grass-fed organic butter
- Garlic (minced cloves)
- Chickpea flour
- Whole milk
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- Parmesan (shredded)
For The Roasted Fennel and Italian Sausage Pizza:
- Pizza crust
- Fennel (thinly sliced)
- Italian sausage (nitrite-free)
- Fresh mozzarella (sliced)
What Type Of Sausage Is Best For Pizza?
Italian sausage is still the best kind of sausage for making pizza. And yes, you can still enjoy Italian sausages on a clean diet! (In moderation, as always.)
Here’s a simple list of things I look for when buying Italian sausage for a healthy and delicious pizza:
- Look for sausages that are low in sugar and low in sodium
- Avoid sausages with nitrates or nitrites
- Look for quality sausages with approximately 80-85% pork and 15-20% fat
Sodium nitrate is a preservative that helps meat like sausages, luncheon meats, jerky, and bacon last longer. They also prevent the growth of bacteria and can sometimes be used to achieve a certain color or flavor to the meat.
But you’ll want to avoid them as they’re linked to certain heart diseases and cancers!
Can You Put Uncooked Sausage On Pizza?
Since we’re only baking the pizza crust on this recipe for 5-10 minutes, you’ll want to precook the Italian sausage.
The 5-10 minute bake time is just enough to get the dough golden and crispy as well as melt the cheese. It’s not enough time to cook the sausage so you’ll want to cook it in medium-high heat on a pan until browned and crumbled.
After this, you can add it to your pizza before placing it in the oven.
What's The Difference Between Sausage And Italian Sausage?
Regular pork sausage is traditionally seasoned with salt, pepper, and sage. Italian sausages, on the other hand, are usually seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, anise seed, and fennel seed.
What Does Fennel Taste Like?
Many people compare fennel to an “anise-like” taste. It is also usually described to have a mild licorice taste. And when a fennel bulb is cooked, the taste becomes even milder. Different parts of the plant vary in taste as well.
Did you know fennel is technically referred to as a spice while being classified as a vegetable and a plant? It’s truly an interesting (and weird-looking) ingredient to cook with its distinct and complex flavors.
The plant’s texture is similar to celery. (Crunchy but harder.) Once the bulb is cooked, it softens and is easier to chew!
How To Make An Fennel Sausage Pizza?
You will love this recipe. It doesn’t at all taste like it’s simple to make!
Here’s what you need to do:
- To make your mouth-watering garlic white sauce: First, you’ll need to melt your butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Next, add your chickpea flour and stir to make a roux. Cook it for 2 minutes and make sure to stir frequently. Whisk your milk in slowly and cook until it thickens. Add your cheese and stir to melt. Season it with salt and pepper according to taste.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- To roast your fennel: Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread out your sliced fennel evenly over the sheet. Season it with kosher salt and ground black pepper then roast your fennel in the oven for around 10-13 minutes (or until golden).
- To cook your sausage: Heat your skillet over medium-high heat and add in your Italian sausage. Break it into smaller pieces and stir them until crumbled and well-browned. Ahh, you can smell it already!
- Once your fennel is roasted, set it aside and turn your oven up to 500 degrees.
- Top your pizza crust with your amazing garlic white sauce, then add in the roasted fennel, Italian sausage, and mozzarella.
- Bake for 5-10 minutes or until your crust’s edges are golden and the cheese gets bubbly.
- Voila! Your Fennel Sausage Pizza masterpiece is ready.
How To Store?
You can actually make this pizza ahead of time--just in case, you know--for those surprise guests or visits! It’s really easy to store until you need it.
- Simply make your crust ahead of time and partially bake it. (This helps prevent it from being sticky or sogging up.)
- Then, you can add the yummy garlic white sauce, fennel, and sausage on top!
- Wrap each pizza with a Saran wrap or foil and you’re done.
- Store it in your freezer and just take it out when you’re ready to bake and enjoy!
If you need to store some leftover pizza, simply store them inside an airtight container. When ready to eat, just reheat and you’re good to go. Easy!
More Healthy Pizza Recipes
By now, y’all probably know how much I LOVE pizza. So let me share some of the best recipes I’ve made through the years!
These are guaranteed to be family favorites:
- Best Homemade Margherita Pizza
- Grilled Pizza with Maple Onion Jam
- Chicken Alfredo Pizza with Spinach and Red Onions
- Italian Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza
- Best BBQ Chicken Pizza
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Roasted Fennel and Italian Sausage Pizza with Garlic White Sauce
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For the Garlic White Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon unsalted, grass-fed organic butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoon chickpea flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup parmesan shredded
For the Roasted Fennel and Italian Sausage Pizza:
- 1 pizza crust see recipe here
- ½ cup Garlic White Sauce see recipe above, prepared
- ¼ cup fennel thinly sliced
- 2 links nitrite-free Italian sausage
- 6 oz fresh mozzarella sliced
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chickpea flour and stir completely to make a roux. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in milk slowly and cook until thickened to desired consistency. Add cheese and stir to melt. Season with salt and pepper, adding more to taste if necessary.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread out sliced fennel evenly over sheet. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Roast fennel in oven for 10-13 minutes, or until it starts to turn golden.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add Italian sausage. Break apart into small pieces. Stirring frequently, cook sausage until well-browned and crumbled.
- Once fennel is roasted, remove from oven and set aside. Turn heat in oven up to 500 degrees.
- Top prepared pizza crust with Garlic White Sauce, then roasted fennel, then crumbled Italian sausage, then mozzarella. Bake 5-10 minutes, or until edges are golden and cheese is bubbly.
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Dustin
delicious we need to do this again soon
Patricia
I had a similar pizza at a local restaurant and was on a mission to find a recipe (I dislike experimenting on my own). I am so glad I found your recipe because it's great and easy! I added roasted red peppers to the top and they were delicious.
Kate
Oh this looks fantastic! Can't wait to try this soon.
Chef Matthew
This was wonderful Lacey. I adore Fennel and since Italian sausage has Fennel seed in it, was a natural pairing. Had a nice clean flavor that was pleasant and not overwhelming. I used the hot Italian sausage because well, I am a Heatseeker and adore hot foods 🙂 Keep up the great work hon.
satchmo
Just had to let you know that this is on the family rotation of YUM- in fact made a couple pies for daughter's graduation party and everyone raved- Thank you!
Sheila
I hope you do open a little bar/restaurant in Austin one day too! I will definitely go there!
Neal
Just took this beauty out of the oven, and it's FANTASTIC! I've never cooked with fresh fennel before, but after this, I think my eyes have been opened!
Thanks for sharing with us! :3
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yay! 🙂
Theresa DePaepe
I make homemade pizza all the time and when I saw this featured on Tasty Kitchen, I knew I had to try it. Made it last night and my husband and I ate the entire thing. I'll be featuring it on my blog and giving you a shout out!
KarenC
I love fennel and am always looking for new and different pizza recipes, so I've wanted to make this since you first posted the recipe. Finally got around to it Saturday night, and it waa DELICIOUS! It got rave reviews from everyone who ate it.... even my picky 14 year old niece who eats NOTHING. LOL
I'll definitely be adding this to my pizza rotation.
Thanks, Lacey.
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yay!! I LOVE hearing about rave reviews 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Karen!
Karen D.
Congratulations! I saw this is a featured recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen! Looks yummy!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Yay! Thanks for letting me know, Karen! I hadn't checked yet 😉 Always so exciting to be featured on Tasty Kitchen!
sara
Gorgeous! This pizza looks super yummy. 🙂
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Thanks, Sara!
Miss Becky
well shazam. I just made a batch of pizza dough yesterday and divided it up for individual pizzas and then froze. as I was making it I was thinking about changing things up and making something really different for a change, because all I ever do is make Cory's with pepperoni/sausage and veggies and my own with the usual - blk olives, gr. peppers, onions, yada yada yada. boring. so now here's this post. thanks for helping me change it up Lacey!!!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
Hi Miss Becky! Always happy to help 🙂 I hope you enjoy the change-up.