Yum...fennel pollen sausage pizza!

This is the perfect time of year for us to make pizza at home. Its not quite hot out, so it feels OK to crank the oven up to 550 degrees, which is what we do to bake our pies. The other exciting part is going to the Union Square Green Market to find fresh, delicious local ingredients to put on it. We recently had a little pizza party here, and our friend brought over my favorite sausage from Violet Hill Farms (see "local food resources NYC", in the side bar). This farm is located in Sullivan County and all of the meat is humanely and sustainably raised; just ask the farmer, Paul, he'll tell you all about it.

The sausage for this pizza is a pork sausage delicately seasoned with fennel pollen (admittedly and in seasoning at the moment), one of the most expensive spices in the world; and its worth it. This pizza was simple dressed with a little home made sauce and fresh mozzarella. On a well preheated stone in a hot oven, it bakes in less than 10 minutes. Its a really fun way to have a dinner party because it can be participatory (or not) and gets onto the table quickly.