Sausage, Fig, Tomato, Arugula, and Eggplant Pizza

Savory Eats

When my brother visits me in the city, I always promise him a home-cooked meal. After a lengthy debate about whether we wanted homemade sushi or pizza, we decided on pizza...

Far from ordinary pizza...

You won't believe how incredibly delicious these ingredients tasted together. The sweet fig was perfect with the bitter arugula. Sun-dried tomato sausage added that meaty flavor. This recipe should be put on your to-do list, as soon as possible.

*This made two thin-crust pizzas

Ingredients:

• One package of pizza dough (Trader Joe's Garlic & Herb Dough)
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (1.5 cups per pizza)
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (0.5 cup sprinkled on top of each pizza)
• 1 jar of pizza sauce
• 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced thin
• 10 dried figs, sliced thin
• 1 cup arugula (0.5 cups sprinkled on each pizza)
• 1 eggplant, sliced thin
• 3 sausages, sliced thin (Trader Joe's Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage)
• 2 heads of garlic, roasted (1 head per pizza)
• Salt and red pepper flakes (to taste, but be cautious about the red pepper flakes)

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (make sure the oven is fully heated before putting in the pizza).
2. Roast the heads of garlic immediately because they take about 30 minutes. Click here to see how to roast garlic:

3. Slice up all your ingredients: beefsteak tomato, figs, eggplant, and sausage:

4. Brown the sausage in some olive oil for about 5 minutes:

5. Liberally flour the surface on which you are going to roll out the pizza dough. Split the dough into two even pieces. Pat and spread out the first ball of dough into a thin circle (the edges should be thicker to create a nice crust):

6. Brush olive oil on the dough. Smash and spread the roasted cloves from one head of garlic onto the dough then spread some pizza sauce (as much or little as you like):

7. Lay some sliced tomatoes on the pizza sauce:

8. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomatoes. Lay the sliced eggplant on top of that:

9. Place the sliced figs evenly over the pizza:

10. Add your sliced sausage:

11. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese on top and add the arugula. Top with sea salt and some red pepper flakes (I only used about 1/4 teaspoon of pepper flakes):

12. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly):

13. Repeat with your second thin-crust pizza and ENJOY!

Recipe to print:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F (make sure the oven is fully heated before putting in the pizza).
2. Roast the heads of garlic immediately because they take about 30 minutes. Click here to see how to roast garlic.
3. Slice up all your ingredients: beefsteak tomato, figs, eggplant, and sausage.
4. Brown the sausage in some olive oil for about 5 minutes.
5. Liberally flour the surface on which you are going to roll out the pizza dough. Split the dough into two even pieces. Pat and spread out the first ball of dough into a thin circle (the edges should be thicker to create a nice crust).
6. Brush olive oil on the dough. Smash and spread the roasted cloves from one head of garlic onto the dough then spread some pizza sauce (as much or little as you like).
7. Lay some sliced tomatoes on the pizza sauce.
8. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the tomatoes. Lay the sliced eggplant on top of that.
9. Place the sliced figs evenly over the pizza.
10. Add your sliced sausage.
11. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded mozzarella and all the Parmesan cheese on top and add the arugula. Top with sea salt and some red pepper flakes (I only used about 1/4 teaspoon of pepper flakes).
12. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly).
13. Repeat with your second thin-crust pizza and ENJOY!