Apple Cheddar Sausage Pizza

October already?  While technically still apple season, we are quickly sliding into pumpkin season, so I wanted to share this awesome apple recipe with you today.  This is a pizza that I created late last fall and it is now one of my favorite homemade pizzas ever.  Lately I've been really into combining apples with savory ingredients.  In fact, my current favorite panini is a Turkey Apple Cheddar Panini.  Yum!  This pizza goes kind of along the same lines.  It combines sweet apples with salty sausage and creamy cream cheese on a crispy/chewy pizza crust.  It really is a delightful combination of tastes and textures that will wow you.

Apple Cheddar Sausage Pizza

Ingredients:

1 tbsp cornmeal

15” pizza crust or 1 lb. dough (I use the one from Lauren's Latest)

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 tbsp apple jelly

1 apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

½ lb. Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°.  If using fresh pizza dough, sprinkle cornmeal out on a large pizza stone.  Press dough out to correct shape.  Prebake pizza crust for 12 minutes. 

Spread cream cheese evenly on pizza crust.  Spread apple jelly on top of that.  Arrange apple slices in a single layer on top of jelly.  Top with sausage, and then the cheddar cheese.

Return to oven and bake 10-15 minutes, or until crust is browned around the edge and cheese is melted.

Makes 4 servings, 2 pieces each.

Oh my goodness.  So good.  And really perfect for fall.  The last time I made it (when these pics were taken), I only used 4 oz. of cream cheese, and I thought that it wasn't quite enough, so I wrote the recipe for 6 oz. instead.  I think when I used 4 oz. in the past was when I was using a smaller (12") pizza crust.

If you've never tried combining apples with savory ingredients, you've got to try this pizza.  I promise it won't disappoint!

Come back on Friday when I will have an awesome savory pumpkin recipe for your enjoyment!