This pizza is rich and delicious! If you don’t use the word “healthy” when serving this dish, your guest (or family) will never know. To limit the sodium content, prepare your own pizza crust and sauce—this could reduce the sodium per slice by 200-500mg per serving, depending on the dough and sauce recipes. Enjoy!
½ cup crumbled/broken soft goat cheese
1 cup pizza sauce (homemade or canned)
¼ cup chopped tarragon leaves (or basil or oregano)
2 links reduced fat chicken sausage (like Trader Joes Tomato-Basil), cut in to slices
1 cup (about 4oz) shredded 2% mozzarella or 4-cheese Italian blend
Pre-heat oven to 450o F (232o C)
1. Allow pizza dough to stand to 30 minutes
2. Knead dough into an elastic ball (flour surface with whole wheat flour, if needed)--allow to rest for 3-5 minutes
3. Toss or roll out dough, so that it fits roughly on a 15 X 12” cookie sheet; allow to rest for 2 minutes
4. After waiting, sprinkle goat cheese evenly on top of the dough and press the cheese into the dough and spread the dough to the edges of the cookie sheet
5. Pour sauce evenly over the dough and smooth with the back end of a spoon.
6. Sprinkle the tarragon evenly over the sauce
7. Place the sausage slices evenly over the pizza
8. Sprinkle shredded 2% mozzarella evenly on top
9. Add to oven; cook for 12-15 minutes, until the edge of the crust is crisp and brown(er)—use oven light for viewing
10. If the cheese is not browned when the crust is crisp and brown, turn the broiler on high and broil for 1-2 until cheese on top is lightly browned and bubbly (do not walk away from the pizza while it is broiling)
11. Allow pizza to rest for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 even slices with sharp pizza cutter
Dr. Jean Gutierrez currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at The George Washington University. You may contact her directly at escjlj@gwumc.edu
