Triple T Deluxe Pizza

Happy Friday!!! I am super excited today because I passed my final thesis defense exam yesterday, so aside from turning in some paper work and uploading my 245 page thesis to the graduate school website, I have finally earned my PhD! It feels good to say that after 5 years of hard work :)

I know I've posted several pizza recipes, but I just had to share this pizza because it was SOOOO good. Bob and I were really surprised how much we liked it - just as good as pizza we could order or get at a restaurant! I've called this pizza "Triple T" because it's made with Turkey pepperoni, Turkey bacon, and Turkey sausage. To make it a deluxe pizza, I added some green pepper and onion, which really put it over the top. You could always throw on some mushrooms or olives, if that's your thing. We absolutely love this crust recipe. I haven't found a pizza sauce recipe I like yet, so I tried jarred Ragu Pizza sauce and was surprised by how good it is, especially since I'm not a big fan of their spaghetti sauce. In the past I have bought canned pizza sauce but am never happy with the taste. As far as the turkey products go, I am pretty particular with which brands I buy, simply based on trial and error taste-wise.

I recommend Hormel turkey pepperoni:

Louis Rich ground turkey sausage (in a tube like regular pork sausage):

and Oscar Mayer turkey bacon:

I have used Jennie-O ground turkey sausage before (both hot and sweet), and it's fine, but for pizza I really prefer the Louis Rich. I completely urge you to try Oscar Mayer turkey bacon if you 1) have never tried turkey bacon, or 2) have tried other brands and don't like them. I really thought turkey bacon was pretty gross before finding Oscar Mayer. By the way, I am not a spokesperson for any of these brands, haha :)

Growing up, Friday nights were always pizza night. Anyone else have a Friday night dinner tradition???
Meghan's Triple T Deluxe Pizza

Ingredients:
1/2 batch pizza dough (enough for a large pizza)
~8 ounces of your favorite homemade or store-bought pizza sauce (Recommended: Ragu)
1/3 package ground turkey sausage, cooked and crumbled (~4 ounces - Recommended: Louis Rich)
Turkey pepperoni (Recommended: Hormel)
4 strips of turkey bacon, cooked but not too crisp, torn into small pieces (Recommended: Oscar Mayer)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 green pepper, finely diced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (sweet or regular)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Parmesan cheese, grated
Pizza/Italian seasoning, to taste

Cornmeal, ~1/4 to 1/2 cup

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium/high heat. Add the green pepper and saute for 3 minutes, then and half of the onion (equivalent of 1/4 onion) and saute until softened, about 3-5 minutes.

2. Preheat oven (with pizza stone inside) to 500F for at least 30 minutes.

3. Generously apply cornmeal to a large surface (like a cutting board) and roll out dough into a large circle (~14 inches in diameter). Remember that using ample cornmeal is essential to eventually sliding the pizza onto the pizza stone.

4. Top pizza as desired; I did the following, in this order: pepperoni, bacon, sausage, the grilled onions and peppers, the raw onions, the mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, then a sprinkle of Pizza/Italian seasoning.

5. Remove hot pizza stone from oven, apply extra cornmeal if needed, and slip pizza onto stone. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until cheese is melted as desired.

6. Remove pizza from oven, slide onto a large cutting board and slice. Enjoy!