Italian sausage and peperonata pizza

Makes Makes 1 x 25cm x 15cm oval pizza Starters and mains

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Method

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 250°C/500°F/Gas 9 or its highest temperature. Once it has reached the temperature, it will take about 15 minutes for the pizza stone to heat up.

To make the peperonata, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the vinegar and sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the capsicum. Allow to cool. Strain the liquid and discard. Blanch the spinach in boiling salted water until just wilted. Refresh in ice cold water, drain and squeeze out the water. Set aside.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with semolina or flour, then roll out the dough ball into a rough 25cm x15cm oval that is about 3mm thick. Place the pizza base on a piece of baking paper; this is necessary for transferring the assembled pizza to the heated pizza stone. Prick the base all over with a fork. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the base and sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Divide the sausage mix into 16 roughly-rolled balls. Sprinkle the pizza base with the blanched spinach, spicy sausage balls and taleggio. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Transfer the pizza onto the heated pizza stone. Cook in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Using a pizza paddle or wide spatula, carefully transfer the pizza to a chopping board or plate. Sprinkle the peperonata and rocket over the top, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and serve.

Italian sausage mix - Makes 100G

* 100g minced pork
* 1tsp garlic confit, finely chopped (see recipe)
* ¼tsp dried chilli flakes, ground
* ¼tsp fennel seeds, roasted and ground

Place the pork in a bowl and sprinkle the other ingredients over the top. Season with ¼tsp salt and a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Mix.