The Honey Bear Pizza and Mank

Welcome, Everyone! I am so excited to share this pizza recipe with you! Creamy white sauce, spicy Italian sausage, smoked and regular mozzarella, thin red onion slices and finished with a good drizzle of honey. Oh my goodness, this one is the new favorite in town. And by “town”, I mean my house. I was surprised when Alex said this is the best one yet because he normally doesn’t like sweet and savory in one bite. If you feel that away too, I encourage to give this a try, just to see if it changes your mind. Are you ready for The Honey Bear Pizza? Let’s do it!

The Prep

Let’s start with preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Then we will brown the spicy Italian sausage. If it’s in links, just squeeze them out of the casings and break it up as it’s cooking to get semi-small pieces. Keep it cooking on medium-low while you make the white sauce. We are using the same recipe for the white sauce that we used last week for the Wild Palms Pizza, the only exception is that instead of black pepper we will season it with salt and dried thyme.

Then move on to slicing the red onions. I use my mandoline because you want nice, even, thin rounds. I am still working on my dough recipe, so we have store-bought dough this week. Rather than the usual 30 minutes I let the dough sit out for, this week I let it sit for 45 minutes, and we got a much better crust! So consider that, if you have had flatter crust than you would have liked in the past.

Assembly

Let’s set up our assembly station with everything prepped, in bowls and ready to go. This pizza will layer a little differently than we usually do. This pie will have each ingredient layered in cheese so that we get every taste in every bite, smothered in cheese. This will also help keep the cooked sausage from getting too brown in the oven.

Hit it with another sprinkling of regular mozzarella, and we will start over with the layers. Repeat until you’ve used all the sausage and/or you feel the whole pie is evenly topped with each ingredient.

Be sure the last layer is cheese.

Bake the pie for 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly and browning. Let the pie sit for a minute or two, then use a fish spatula to lift up one end and ease it out of the pan onto a cutting board.

I have really tasty local raw honey; use your favorite honey and drizzle over entire pie. If you’re nervous about whether you’ll like the honey, just drizzle honey over one slice and give it a try! The honey really makes this pizza sing.

Movie Night: Mank

We have The Honey Bear Pizza ready, let’s start the show! Mank is the new movie directed by David Fincher, streaming on Netflix. Starring Gary Oldman as the screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz, the film follows Mank through his development of the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Shot in black and white, this film is like a meta-Citizen Kane in its cinematography and framing.

I love films about about old Hollywood and this one does not disappoint. Gorgeous costumes, sets and period music all perfectly help tell the story. Oldman’s performance is wonderful as the washed-up alcoholic Mank; witty and cynical, yet warm-hearted and deep. Even if you have not seen Citizen Kane, you will enjoy this film. As self-referential to Kane as it may be, that aspect only adds to the Noir story.

Here we are at the end of another Pizza and a Movie. I hope you try The Honey Bear Pizza! Let me know if you do, and how you like it. We will be back again Sunday, for Sunday Supper. Until then, give me a follow on Instagram, facebook and Pinterest. Pin and share the recipes with your friends and family! Take care and be well, everyone! xo Kelly

Print Recipe

The Honey Bear Pizza

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Dinner, Main Course – American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 25 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 Minutes – Total Time: 40 Minutes

Simple ingredients come together to make a flavor-packed combination. Smoky mozzarella, a light cream base provide the richness while hot Italian sausage and red onions give it a kick, all sweetened up with a drizzle of raw honey.

Ingredients

• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough, at room temperature
• 1/4 -1/2 cup White Sauce (find the recipe in the Wild Palms Pizza Post)
• ~1/2 cup Mozzarella, shredded
• ~1/2 cup Smoked Mozzarella
• 12-16 oz. Hot Italian Sausage (4-5 links), casings removed, browned and crumbled
• 1/4 Large Red Onion, sliced into thin rounds
• Drizzle of Raw Honey, to finish

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2

Let dough sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, but 45 minutes is better.

3

Remove casings from sausage and brown over medium-low heat. Break apart with a wooden spatula to get small crumbles. Drain and set aside.

4

Make the White Sauce - you can find the recipe for this in the post titled, Wild Palms Pizza.

5

Lightly coat a quarter sheet pan with olive oil and set near your assembly station.

6

On a floured surface, roll the dough out to roughly 9" x 13" and lay it in the sheet pan.

7

Spread an even, thin layer of the white sauce and sprinkle a layer of mozzarella.

8

Then sausage and more cheese. Onions and more cheese (alternating between the regular mozzarella and the smoked mozzarella).

9

Keep layering until the sausage is gone and finish with a layer of cheese.

10

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is browned and bubbly.