David's Infamous Pizza Pie

Today I'm honoring the other man in my life, my wonderful husband, David, who just happens to be an outstanding cook, among many other talents. David decided to make one of his phenomenal pizza pies on one of our recent rainy days here in Dallas. Remarkably, it was one of his best ones yet. Homemade pizza is easy and fun to make, and it tastes better than any pizza you can buy at a store or restaurant. We like to go to Jimmy’s Food Store at 4901 Bryan Street at Fitzhugh and buy their pizza dough. It’s only $2, and it’s enough dough to make two pizzas. While there, we also buy a pound of fresh Italian sausage, a quart container of shredded mozzarella/provolone mix cheese and some real Italian pizza tomato sauce. A good pizza needs to be made on a pizza stone, so if you don’t have one, it’s a great investment and will pay off many times.

Jimmy's Food Store is an Old East Dallas institution that has been in Dallas for over 50 years. Started by Mike and Paul Di Carlo's Father and Grandfather back in the 40's in South Dallas. The store was moved to the Bryan Street location in 1966 and has been a fixture ever since. You can always find the Di Carlo's working in the store, greeting their faithful customers with a big smile. Jimmy's is known for their homemade sausage, meatballs, caviar, Italian wines and the best Cuban sandwiches in town. Some of Dallas' best restaurants buy their sausage from Jimmy's. I highly recommend you go and check them out sometime.

Pizza

1 ball of pizza dough

1 - 16 oz can of Italian pizza sauce

1 quart of Mozzarella/Provolone mix cheese

1 lb of fresh Italian sausage

2-3 cloves sliced garlic

Any other toppings you like, such as sliced mushrooms, artichokes, spinach, etc..

In a skillet, brown the fresh Italian sausage and place on a few paper towels to drain. Heat the pizza stone in the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle corn meal on the pizza stone. Put the pizza dough in a bowl with extra virgin olive oil drizzled over it. Once defrosted, cut the dough in half and sprinkle flour on the counter top and place the dough on the counter. Then, while sprinkling with flour, roll the dough flat with a rolling pin. Once rolled flat, place on the heated pizza stone for about 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Once the dough is lightly browned, take out of the oven and spread the Pizza sauce all over the pizza crust. Then, add the cheese and then the sausage and sprinkle sliced garlic all over. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until the cheese is lightly browned and serve.

Enjoy!