Sheet Pan Pizza with Hillshire Farm® Smoked Sausage & Burst Cherry Tomatoes

It's pizza night! And I have a good one to share with you today. We love sausage with peppers and onions in this house. Variations of those ingredients have been gracing my dinner table for many, many years now (Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Pasta, Italian Sausage Pepper Skillet). We also love pizza - so what a happy combination to put the two together.

This pizza is packed full of delicious ingredients, smoky sausage, tender onion and peppers, gooey mozzarella cheese, a lightly olive oil basted crust infused with garlic and oregano, and those gorgeous fresh cherry tomatoes on top. It was delicious. The leftovers did not last long!

This pizza crusts recipe has become my go-to over the years, it is super consistent and comes together easily. I love the texture and chew and it makes enough for two full pizzas, or a nice thick crust for one pizza!

Sheet Pan Pizza with Hillshire Farm® Smoked Sausage & Burst Cherry Tomatoes adapted from Hillshire Farms on AllRecipes

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
1 (8-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 (14 ounce) package Hillshire Farm(R) Smoked Sausage, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2/3 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

1. Prepare pizza dough according to instructions below, or use your favorite dough recipe.
2. Saute the onion and bell pepper in 1 TBS olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, then add in the sliced sausage. Saute another 8-10 minutes, until vegetables are tender and sausage is browned.
3. Spread 3 tablespoons oil over the base of an 11x17-inch sheet tray. Stretch the dough to meet all corners and edges of the sheet tray. If the dough is difficult to stretch, let rest for 10 minutes, then begin to stretch again (if you are using the dough recipe below, it will make a fairly thick crust on an 11x17 baking sheet, you shouldn't have any issues stretching it out!).
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, chopped garlic, and oregano. Drizzle evenly and spread over the top of the crust.
5. Top with fresh mozzarella slices, bell pepper, sausage, and onion mixture, then shredded mozzarella, topped with the halved cherry tomatoes.
6. Place on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets (4 1/2 tsp) active yeast
4 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 TBS oil

Directions

1. Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Blend and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until frothy and activated.
2. Add in all remaining ingredients, put the dough hook attachment on, and set mixer to medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, until well combined. (Dough will be soft, don't add extra flour).
3. Scrape dough off the bottom of the bowl and add in enough vegetable or olive oil to coat the bottom and place dough back in the bowl, covered with a towel, and allow to rest about 30-45 minutes, until it has risen.
4. Punch dough down and roll out into desired shape on a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin.
5. Allow dough to rest again for about 15-20 minutes once you have it shaped, before adding toppings.