The apple and chicken sausage pizza is full of great fall flavors — and has a fun macaroni and cheese surprise waiting in the stuffed crust!
If this pizza could talk, this is what it would say:
“Heeey there, I’m a classy pizza — I’ve got sausage, but it’s chicken and apple sausage. Oh yeah. And onions — but not regular onions, these are sweet red onions. And oh yeah, apples…’cause you gotta put fruit on pizza to throw people for a loop. And only the sharpest, most flavorful cheddars will work for me.
Oh wait — you made it to the crust and discovered my little secret? Okay yeah, so I’m a little trashed up. But you’ll love the macaroni and cheese hidden inside my stuffed crust.”
Yep – I trashed it up a little and it was a gooood decision. This “trashed up” pizza is in honor of Jessica Merchant — the hilarious, innovative, and seriously sweet blogger behind How Sweet It Is. Jessica not only just released her first cookbook but she’s also going to have a baby! Today we’re celebrating Jess and her little one with a “trashed up” baby shower — full of over-the-top, Jessica-style foods. Jessica has a gift for turning the ordinary into something slightly outside of the box. Her recipes, although they clearly could only come from her mind, are made approachable for the everyday home cook. Even the “trashed up” recipes.
Jessica, although she has served as an inspiration to countless new bloggers (including myself!), is one of the most down-to-earth, kind people I’ve come across while blogging. She’s totally famous (you are!) and yet always makes time to respond to emails and acknowledge retweets, etc.
She’s more than deserving of this shower and I hope she enjoys every second of reading through all these posts (and there’s a lot of them!)
Congrats Jessica (and Eddie!). Can’t wait to “meet” your little one.
Circling back around to the pizza — when I heard trashed-up, it didn’t take long for my mind to go to macaroni and cheese stuffed crust pizza. I couldn’t wait to try stuffing one of my favorite foods into the crust of pizza. But then I got a little stuck when it came to toppings. Of course, you could top this pizza just like any other pizza. It would be great with marinara, mozzarella, and pepperoni. I even called my mom. She always has the best recipe ideas. So does Ben, surprisingly enough. The guy that would rather I NOT put macaroni and cheese in his pizza crust. Or mess with his chocolate chip cookies in any way, shape, or form. The guy who would happily eat tuna noodle casserole daily. But I’m getting distracted from my point here. Deciding on toppings for this pizza was hard!
And truth be told, the apples sort of come around by accident. I was going to do roasted broccoli with the chicken sausage but then homecoming week happened. As I write this, we’re in the middle of Ben’s first homecoming as a high school principal. So as you can imagine, we are busy with all sorts of events. Well, mostly him but that means less help with the kids which means….moldy broccoli because I didn’t get around to it.
SO — apples. And oh my goodness, am I glad the broccoli got moldy. And you KNOW I love roasted broccoli. But the apples were so good on this and made it the perfect taste of fall. I served it with roasted delicata squash and I felt like I died and went to fall heaven.
If the macaroni and cheese is too much for you or you’re watching that good ol’ waistline, these toppings would be great on a plain whole wheat crust. Or if the apple/cheddar/sausage thing isn’t for you, go ahead and dress this pizza up anyway you’d like. I have a hunch roasted broccoli would be good on it. As long as there isn’t mold involved.
Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust
Yield: 3-4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 28 minutes
The apple and chicken sausage pizza is full of great fall flavors -- and has a fun macaroni and cheese surprise waiting in the stuffed crust!
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the pan
2 fully cooked chicken sausages, thinly sliced (6 ounces) - see notes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
1 batch pizza dough
1 and 1/2 cups macaroni and cheese
1/2 to 1 small apple, cored and thinly sliced
3/4 cup to 1 cup grated good quality sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450* Fahrenheit. Rub a large sheet pan with a light coating of olive oil (about a teaspoon).
In a medium sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and sausage with olive oil about 4-5 minutes or until onions soften and sausage starts to brown.
Meanwhile, roll out crust to a size slightly larger than your sheet pan. Place onto sheet pan with dough overhanging edges slightly.
With a small spoon, spoon macaroni and cheese onto edges of the crust, about an inch in. Go all the way around -- a small amount is sufficient. Then, fold the crust over the macaroni and cheese to form a stuffed crust.
Layer on the sausage and onions, followed by the sliced apples and the grated cheddar cheese.
Bake at 450 for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
Let cool 1-2 minutes before cutting and serving.
Note: I recommend a chicken and apple variety sausage to amp up the apple flavor.
Have fun looking through all these creative trashed-up recipes made in honor of Jessica and her baby! And be sure to pop on by her site if you get a minute to say congrats — both on the baby and her other baby, the book!
trashed up salads
Gimme Some Oven – Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Sauce
The Lemon Bowl – Brussels Slaw with Tahini Dressing and Za’atar Crostini
With Style & Grace – Kale Salad with Apple, Hazelnuts & Bacon
trashed up cocktails
Dine & Dish – Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail
Food For My Family – Cranberry Orange Dark and Stormy Cocktail
Minimalist Baker – Bourbon Pumpkin Milkshakes
Stylish, Stealthy & (sometimes) Healthy – Apple Cider Shandy
A Spicy Perspective – Preggy Punch Mocktail
Girl vs. Dough – Boozy Maple Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake
Honestly Yum – Maple Bacon Pisco Sour
Cookin Canuck – Pink Grapefruit Margaritas
A Thought For Food – Mezcal Citrico Cocktail
A House in the Hills – Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer
The Novice Chef – Ginger Bourbon Apple Cider
Bran Appetit – Citrus Cider Punch Floats
trashed up burgers
Edible Perspective – Meatloaf Veggie Burgers with Mashed Potatoes + Gravy
The Little Kitchen – Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie
Daisy At Home – Balsamic Beef Burger with Mac and Cheese
Cookies & Cups – Candied Bacon Maple Cheddar Burger
Climbing Grier Mountain – Trashed-Up Steak Burger with Chicken Fried Bacon & Dijon Gravy
Dessert For Two – Bleu Cheese Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
Country Clever – Fig Rosemary Roast Chicken Brie Brussels Sprout Panini
Foodie Crush – The Best Cheeseburger Soup
Lady and Pups – Spicy Sambal Chicken Meatball Sub with Eggs
Two Peas & Their Pod – Sweet Potato and Kale Grilled Cheese
Bake Your Day – Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich
trashed up tacos
Spoon Fork Bacon – Crunchy Ground Beef and Cheesy Tacos
The Fauxmartha – Boozy Beef and Butternut Tacos
With Food + Love – Harvest Hash Breakfast Tacos
Mountain Mama Cooks – Crispy Kale and Brussels Sprout Tacos with Bacon
Heather Christo – Bahn Mi Tacos with Spicy Sriracha Honey Sauce
A Couple Cooks – Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos
Fitnessista – San Diego Lobster Street Tacos
trashed up desserts
Table for Two – Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Brown Butter Shortbread Bars with Sprinkles
My Name is Yeh – Mini Vanilla Loaf Cakes, All Trashed Up
Picky Palate – Pumpkin Spice Butterscotch Sprinkle Cupcakes
Sprinkle Bakes – Cake Batter Confetti Cupcakes
Averie Cooks – Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Sweet Phi – Trashed Up Shortbread Cookie Bars
Love & Olive Oil – Loaded Junk Food Brownies
Lauren’s Latest – Bakery Sugar Cookies
Cookie + Kate – Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Flourishing Foodie – Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
The Sugar Hit – Salted Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream Cake
Hummingbird High – Breakfast Cereal Cake Donuts
Top With Cinnamon – Triple Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Crumb Cake
Bake at 350 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundaes
Simple Bites – Lemon Layer Cake
Bakerella – Baby Block Cake Pops
She Wears Many Hats – Chocolate Covered Grapefruit
trashed up pizza
Bev Cooks – Beer Battered Fried Calamari Pizza
Rachel Cooks – Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust
Foodie With Family – Trashed Up Barbecue Turkey Pizza
Shutterbean – Pesto Potato Bacon Pizza
i am a food blog – Grilled Cheese Pizza
My Life as a Mrs – Chili Cheese Dog Pizza
Simply Scratch – Steak + Blue Cheese Pizza with Crispy Fried Shallots and Honey Balsamic Drizzle
The Beeroness – Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza
Yes I Want Cake – Roasted Pumpkin Pizza
Two Red Bowls – Bacon Mashed Potato Pizza
Dula Notes – Pork Bahn Mi Pizza
Weelicious – Trashed Up Mexican Pizza Pockets
Take a Megabite – Roasted Beet Pizza
Hungry Girl Por Vida – Hard Cider Braised Pork with Sour Cherries and Cheesy Polenta
Bakers Royale – Trash’d Street Tacos
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