Sausage and Sweet Potato Pizza with Goat Cheese

Pizza Crust

• 2 1/2 - 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup very hot water
• 3/4 ounces active dry yeast
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. In small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and 1 teaspoon of flour with water. Stir until dissolved. Cover and set aside for about 15 minutes until mixture is frothy and bubbly. In large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, salt, oil. Add yeast mixture and stir well.
2. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well until dough begins to form and pulls away from the side of the bowl. The amount of flour can vary. But it generally takes me 2-2 1/2 cups to get a nice dough, then I will use another 1/2 cup to coat the countertop for kneading.
3. Once dough has formed, remove from bowl onto a flour covered surface. Dust hands with flour and knead dough thoroughly for about 5 minutes. One technique is to continually flatten dough, fold once or twice and flatten again. You'll develop your own technique. The important thing is to work the dough well.
4. Form dough into ball and place in a large, bowl that has been coated with olive oil. Turn dough ball once to lightly coat surface with oil. Cover bowl with a towel and set aside for about 1 hour or until dough has risen enough to double in size.
5. This recipe will provide enough dough for two pizzas. After dough has risen, cut in half. The other half can be used for a second pizza or it can be frozen for later use. If you freeze the dough, remove from freezer and set out until it warms to room temperature.

Pizza

• 1 small sweet potato
• 1/2 pound sausage
• 1/2 cup goat cheese
• 1 cup tomato or pizza sauce
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella or your choice)
• salt
• pepper
• cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350. Peel sweet potato and dice into medium chunks. In small baking dish, drizzle a bit of olive oil, toss in diced sweet potato and season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until not quite cooked all the way through. Set aside.
2. In skillet, brown sausage slightly over medium heat. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat oven to 425. On a pizza stone or coated cookie sheet, roll out pizza dough. Work from middle and stretch outward toward edges, using a rolling pin to evenly distribute the dough.
4. Spread sauce on dough with a large spoon.
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese, sausage, sweet potatoes, and goat cheese pieces onto pizza.
6. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until cheese begins to brown around outer edge.