Pear Goat Cheese and Italian Sausage Pizza with Roasted Garlic and Fresh Basil

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough, homemade or store bought
• 1 head garlic
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pinches salt
• 1 1/2 barlett pears, sliced thin
• 6 oz low-moisture mozzarella cheese, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 5 oz Italian sausage, good quality, cooked and crumbled as cooking
• Yellow corn meal, for dusting
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped into thin ribbons

Directions

1. Set your oven to 400 degrees. Pull away the loose papery bits from the garlic head, keeping the cloves together, then trim about 1/4-inch off the top so the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil big enough to close around it well, spoon 1 1/2 tsp olive oil over the cut side, and fold the foil around it to seal. Roast for about 28 – 30 minutes, until it is almost tender but not completely finished, since it will spend more time in the oven on the pizza. Take it out, let it cool, and slip the cloves from their skins.
2. Raise the oven to 450 degrees and set a pizza stone in the middle of the oven. Lightly scatter corn meal (or flour) over a large sheet of parchment paper, then shape and stretch the pizza dough to 12 1/2 inches. Brush the dough all over with 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, then sprinkle with pepper and salt. Arrange the pears, mozzarella, goat cheese, cooked Italian sausage, and garlic cloves over the pizza. With a pizza peel, move the pizza, still on the parchment, onto the hot pizza stone, and bake for 11 – 14 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Take it out of the oven and finish with the basil ribbons. Slice and serve warm.
3. For the mozzarella, use the low-moisture kind that comes in a cylinder shape rather than fresh mozzarella; part skim or whole both work. Cook the sausage just a little shy before adding it to the pizza, since it will cook more in the oven, but be sure it is fully cooked through after baking.