We love making pizza dough, and it's not nearly as hard as you think. But lately we've been using a certain store-bought dough, and to be honest, it's pretty hard to beat. In fact, this pizza is so good (and green! Look at all that kale!) that we haven't ordered a pie in two months. And we live in New York, people.
Even though the store-bought dough is what qualifies this pizza as a six-ingredient recipe, you'd only need eight to make your own dough from scratch. So never let that deter you; pizza is easier than you think.
That said, I'm obsessed with Whole Foods pizza dough right now. I was making the New York Times dough recipe (I used it for my Spinach, White Bean, and Taleggio Pizza—another green one!), but I picked up a bag of fresh dough at the store a couple of months ago, and I'm not sure I'm ever going back.
This dough is the tiniest bit sweet, which I like, and you can really feel how alive it is when you stretch it. There are big, plopping air bubbles everywhere. It practically burps while you work it.
So, the pizza. I love something green on my pizza, but I'm not a big fan of broccoli, and I also don't like weighty toppings. The idea of a big mound of kale chips on top of the pizza—salty, crispy, virtuous—sounded perfect. And the Italian tomatoes are key; they add a lot of flavor, which is especially important because you're not adding a ton of them. This isn't a super saucy pizza.
I tried this pizza twice with the uncooked kale piled on with the other toppings. The kale got crispy, but it also released a lot of moisture that pooled in the middle of the pizza. It's better to make the kale chips first, then scatter them onto the pizza once it's cooked.

makes one large (12- to 14-inch) pizza
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
5 large curly kale leaves (or a small bunch of lacinato kale)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 store-bought pizza dough, at room temperature
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into thin slices
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pour the Italian tomatoes into a mesh strainer and let them sit, squishing and stirring with a spoon a few times, until they are quite dry.
Strip the kale leaves from their stems, rip into 1-inch pieces. Wash and spin dry in a salad spinner or pat very thoroughly with a kitchen towel. In a large bowl, toss them with enough olive oil to lightly coat the leaves (you don't want them to be dripping, just slick). Spread onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until crispy.
Raise the oven temperature to 500 degrees.
While the oven is preheating, cook and crumble the sausage in a pan until no longer pink. Set aside. Take the dough out of its packaging (you'll need a dash of flour to keep it from sticking to your hands) and slowly stretch it. I like to drape the dough over the backs of my hands and stretch it from the middle out. You can also pat it out on a cutting board or baking sheet. Either way, you'll need to stop every once in a while and let the dough sit for a second, so it gets used to its new shape.
Place the dough on a baking sheet and scatter the tomatoes, then sausage, then mozzarella slices over it. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly. Remove from the oven, pile on the crispy kale, then slice.
*A note on technique: If you have a pizza stone and want to slide your topped pizza onto the stone in the oven, go for it. I'm terrible at this, and I find that I get a decently crispy crust with a baking sheet.
Related: How to Grill Pizza
(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)
Peeler by Normann C...

Comments (15)
Looks delicious!
Steamed or blanched broccoli rabe (rapini) is another tasty green topping that works well with sausage on pizza.
This pizza looks fantastic-tomatoes, white cheese, and greens are my absolute favorite kind of pizza. I have been looking for the perfect premade dough-does Whole Food sell a whole wheat version?
@whitrome31: I'm pretty sure they do... they occasionally sell out (of both), though!
Thanks Elizabeth-I will be on the lookout! Yet another item to add to my ever growing Whole Foods shopping list.
I like a little bit of diced asparagus with gruyere cheese on my pizza. I had terrible allergic reactions to kale, so this sister needs to stay away from it, unfortunately!
This looks delicious! Thanks for the inspiration. I've made pizza & calzones many times (dough from scratch from the Dean & Deluca cookbook - make a double batch & keep half in the freezer). I found that transferring to my baking stone in the oven is easier if I make the goods on parchment paper (available @ WF, btw) & use the paper to move the food to the oven. As a bonus, it's a barrier to keep melted cheeses & other burnable bits off the stone.
Looks amazing! I think I'm finally going to jump on the kale chip bandwagon! :)
Whole Foods pizza dough is by far the best fresh one i've found! I love it! They definitely have a whole wheat one and they also have a multigrain one i've been meaning to try for a while.
This pizza looks delicious. I cannot wait to try it!
We love arugula on pizza - it's practically weightless, but green and tasty. :o]
We love argula and saussage on pizza,is delicious, sometimes I topped with parma ham, argula and mozzarella
I too was using a fresh dough from the grocey (Harris Teeter) as my go to. But their stock was NEVER reliable. I often went home with frozen dough and 2 hours before I wanted to cook. Wegmans also sells a fantastic dough, and their stock is much more reliable, but the location is a pain. So now I plan ahead and make my own dough using a Food processor and a recipe from Serous Eats for NY style pizza. Ready made dough is a wonderful luxury, but for me it's unreliable :(
Certain pizzerias will also sell their dough. Re: the Whole Foods dough (which I actually just bought!), I assume you bring it to room temp before working with it? Does anyone know how long you should let it sit out? Thank yoU!
I was really really impressed with the WF dough! I'm trying to stay away from white doughs but the wheat was sold out. I usually make my own with the Peter Reinhardt recipe and it's usually quite good but I have to think ahead of time for that and well...that doesn't always happen. Good to know how well WF's turns out!
I was amazed at how much texture and flavor kale chips brought to the pizza. My 2 year old and I happily consumed ours---hubby-notsomuch.
I made this last night and it was so good. Maybe a tad too much cheese, but then again, how can you have too much cheese? The kale was great! We kind of just ate it on the side because the crust fluffed up quite a bit and it made for a big bite. I am usually one to make my own dough, but I bought some just for this recipe. That was a great move on my part because it was really late and it ended up tasting pretty good. I think next time I will do a wheat dough, what with the chewy cheese, a wheat dough would have made the bite a little more crunchy on the bottom rather than chewy also.