Happy National Cheese Pizza Day! While this specific pizza has some other ingredients, it does include cheese so hey we still are fitting in here! A thin & crispy crust, topped with a creamy pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, hot Italian sausage, fresh basil, and a garlic butter crust really make this pizza the absolute fucking BEST… trust me.
I’m really excited to announce that this recipe is in collaboration with Follow Your Heart! They’re one of my favorite brands, and I’ve gotten so many requests to make more recipes using their products from y’all, since they’re so accessible across the US. The products I used in this recipe are their Pesto Vegenaise (which is so fucking good), grated parmesan cheese, and mozzarella style shreds. Trust me, they truly make this recipe special.
First you’ll want to get everything prepped before getting ready to assemble the pizza. Crumble your sausage into a skillet with some oil and cook until browned, then set aside. Then you can stretch out your pizza dough into a thin round circle, and place onto a baking tray or pizza stone (it helps if it’s preheated). Spread over some of the Follow Your Heart Pesto Vegenaise & Vegan Pesto, then top with FYH Mozzarella Style Shreds, some garlic powder, crushed red pepper, FYH grated parmesan cheese, and the browned Italian sausage.
Melt some vegan butter in the microwave or on the stovetop, with some minced garlic & garlic powder mixed in. Brush this over the crust of the pizza before placing in the oven to help the crust not dry out. Once you have that all assembled, cook according to the instructions for your pizza dough & broil for an extra minute or two until the cheese is bubbly and browned. Once you remove the pizza from the oven, brush some more garlic butter over the crust again, and tear some fresh basil overtop the entire pizza. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into slices & serving it up!
This is a pretty easy pizza to put together overall, and trust me it’s SO dang good. The pesto & sausage combo really sets it over the top.
Once again, I just want to give a big thanks to Follow Your Heart for sponsoring this recipe and allowing me to share it with y’all! It’s truly delicious. As always, if you make this, make sure to tag me @plvntfood / #plvntfood and tag @followyourheart as well, so we can all see it! Love y’all with my cold little heart. And enjoy your national cheese pizza day!
Pesto & Cheese Pizza with Hot Italian Sausage
The perfect vegan pizza to celebrate national cheese pizza day!
Ingredients
- 1 bag store bought pizza dough
- 1 bag Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds
- 1/2 cup Follow Your Heart Pesto Vegenaise
- 1/4 cup vegan pesto
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1-2 vegan hot Italian sausage links (I used tofurkey italian sausage)
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1-2 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 1/8 cup Follow Your Heart grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup vegan butter melted
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- A small amount of oil for cooking
- Salt / pepper to taste
Instructions
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Stretch out your pizza dough into a circle and place on a baking tray or pizza stone.
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In a skillet, crumble in your hot Italian sausage with some cooking oil, salt, and pepper, and cook on medium heat until browned. Set aside to cool slightly.
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Spread your pesto vegenaise & vegan pesto over the pizza crust, and then top with your vegan mozzarella shreds. Add your crumbled hot Italian sausage, crushed red pepper, garlic powder, & grated parmesan cheese, on top of the cheese.
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Mix your minced garlic in with the melted vegan butter and brush around the crust.
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Cook according to the dough package instructions until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil once out of the oven.
