The perfect amount of sauce, cheese, and dough make for a delicious pizza, but don’t overlook the toppings! While most pizza toppings may simply be cut up and put onto the pizza before baking, take note that some should be precooked for safety. So, Do You Cook Sausage Before Putting It On Pizza?
Since most pizzas have a short cooking time, if you don’t precook your sausage toppings before placing your pizza in the oven, your meat will be undercooked. Consuming raw or undercooked meat can cause a variety of illnesses in people and should thus be avoided at all costs. Overall, chorizo and Italian sausage are some of the best pizza toppings, but make sure these meats are cooked first!
Continue reading to learn more about using sausage as a pizza topping, including whether you should cook sausage before putting it on pizza, why this is considered important, as well as the best types of sausages to include on your pizza, and more.
Why Should You Cook Sausage Before Putting It On Pizza?
Pre-Cooking Your Sausage Can Prevent the Consumption of Uncooked Meat
Uncooked sausages containing ground beef, pork, lamb, or veal should be cooked to 160 °F in order to prevent you from contracting a foodborne illness. The same can be said for ground chicken and turkey sausages. However, take note, that these sausages should be cooked to 165 °F instead of 160 °F when bought raw.
Pre-Cooking Your Sausage Can Add Texture To Your Topping
You can give your meat some texture by pre-cooking your sausage bits and then re-cooking them in the oven on your pizza. For example, the skin of your sausage can be made crispy after being cooked again in the oven.
In order to achieve this texture, you should first cook your sausages in some butter. This can add a little crunch to your pizza as well as provide a pleasing combination of textures for your palate.
How To Cook Sausage Before Putting It On Pizza?
Use a meat thermometer to check that your sausage is fully cooked before placing it on your pizza or giving it to your family. For example, a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit is required for pork sausage.
Overall, there are two main techniques for precooking the sausage toppings. To begin with, sausage can be cooked on the burner. If this is the approach you choose, heat a skillet to medium heat and add 6 tablespoons of water before adding the sausage to the pan.
The other method involves broiling. Broil your sausages by placing links on the broiler rack at least 7-9 inches below the heating element and cook until golden brown. This can take anywhere from 13 to 15 minutes on each side.
What Different Type Of Sausages Are Considered Best On Pizza?
With unlimited pizza toppings to choose from depending on what flavours and textures you’re trying to achieve; it can be hard to choose a sausage type to put on your pizza. Listed below are the top 3 best sausages to try on pizza. These include pepperoni, Italian sausage, and Chorizo.
Pepperoni
Pepperoni is most likely the number one pizza topping in the world. However, some people are unaware that pepperoni is actually a type of sausage. Overall, this sausage type is manufactured from a combination of pork and beef, exclusively from pork, or purely from beef.
Therefore, if you enjoy a traditional pepperoni pizza, be aware that you are actually eating a tasty sausage. The benefits of this sausage also include the fact that it can be bought pre-cooked, pre-sliced, and pre-pizza ready!
Italian Sausage
All Italian sausages are manufactured from pork, but they differ in flavour due to varied spices and additions. This implies that different sausages will pair best with different types of pizza and toppings. For example, mild Italian sausage, also known as Sweet Italian Sausage, is often seasoned with fennel, parsley, garlic, oregano, and red wine vinegar.
Mild Italian sausage is the most often used form of sausage on pizza and goes well with the majority of the other toppings. It’s the also same sausage that’s typically used in spaghetti sauces.
On the other hand, the ingredients in hot Italian sausage are the same as those in mild Italian sausage, but the flavouring is hotter.
Spicy Chorizo Sausage
Chorizo is a deep crimson pork sausage with a powerful flavour. It comes from Latin America and is similar to hot Italian sausage but has a hotter flavour.
This sausage is flavoured with ancho chile, cumin, coriander, paprika, pepper, salt, oregano, bay leaves, thyme, and cinnamon.
Overall, chorizo is ideal for people who like hot, spicy foods and are not scared of experiencing heartburn. Chorizo also goes nicely with cheddar cheese because the cheese softens the flavour. The same may be said for garlic and oregano.
What Other Ingredients Should Be Cooked Before They Are Put On A Pizza?
Root Vegetables
Root vegetables have a long tradition of being a delectable component of a balanced diet. Overall, some of the most common root vegetable pizza toppings include onions, turnips, potatoes, and artichoke.
These veggies, which include butternut squash, are considered hard to bite into and take the longest to prepare. They are, therefore, not suitable for being put on a pizza uncooked.
When placed on your pizza uncooked, these vegetables can also be quite hard to chew, especially if they are chopped thick. However, they are known to become quite tender throughout and sweeter when cooked first.
Mushrooms
Since they are fungi, which also implies they are full of water, mushrooms aren’t considered to be typical vegetables. When placed on your pizza raw, they, therefore, do not have enough time to cook properly.
After all, it takes a while for the water to evaporate from the mushrooms before they begin to cook. This can result in a raw mushroom flavour, which most people find to be inferior to cooked mushrooms.
At the same time, too much extra moisture can be created by the water being discharged onto your pizza dough’s surface. This can make your pizza toppings and dough soggy. For example, if you’ve ever sauteed mushrooms in a skillet, you might have observed this.
Instead, you should sauté the mushrooms first to release the water, enhance the flavour, and guarantee that they are well cooked before placing them on your pizza.
Dense Leafy Greens
Herbs and leafy green vegetables also need to be prepared before being added to a pizza. This is so that they don’t burn and get bitter. Take note, however, that there are a few techniques you can use to minimize burning and boost flavour, such as coating certain herbs in oil.
For example, it is easier to prepare food like spinach by sautéing it in a skillet with olive oil first. As a result, it can wilt, lose some moisture, and generally become easier to handle. When cooking this leafy green, instead of spreading it out in a thick layer and let it shrink like that.
Rosemary and other woody herbs will also require good oiling. For example, some people take a sprig and massage it with some olive oil before adding it to their pizza in order to avoid burning the herb.
Final Thoughts
Pizzas often cook quickly, so if you don’t precook your sausage toppings before baking your pizza, the meat could come out of the oven underdone. For example, pork sausage must have an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit to be considered safe to eat. A meat thermometer should, therefore, be used to ensure that your meat is properly cooked before placing it on your pizza.
There are also two suggested techniques for precooking your sausage pizza toppings: your sausage can either be broiled or cooked on the stovetop. If you decide to use the stovetop method, heat a skillet over medium heat and add 6 tablespoons of water before adding the sausage.
On the other hand, if you choose to broil your sausages, place them on a broiler rack at least 7-9 inches below the hot element until they appear golden brown and reach an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
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