Strain the tomatoes over a sauce pan, reserve the strained tomatoes.

Sweat onions and garlic in 2 TB olive oil. Add tomatoes and Parmigiano Reggiano rind to the onions and garlic, reserve.

Add oregano, basil and bay leaves to the tomato water. Add wine to reserved tomato water and reduce by 1/2.

Add the tomato water to the reserved tomato mixture. Simmer 20-30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and rind, and using a stick blender, blend until smooth.

Add your warm water and yeast to the mixer bowl to bloom for 1-2 minutes.

Add 2 cups of flour (one of each whole wheat and white four) and salt. It should be thicker than a batter but not really dough.

"Wet Knead" the dough for 10 minutes, it may not look like much is going on, but gluten is being developed without putting a lot of strain on your mixer or walking it off of your counter.

Add white flour 1/4 to 1/2 a cup at a time while kneading until its climbing out of the bowl but is still slightly tacky. Coat the dough in oil and cover with a warm damp cloth to rise.

Divide into 2 rounds.

Roll each ball out on a floured bench.

De-case and brown your sausage.

The sausage we used was very lean so there wasn’t much to drain off, but if you use a fattier sausage make sure you drain it.

Spread a thin layer of pesto on your crust.

Top with a layer of your home made marinara. Slice your apple wood smoked mozzarella and place strategically.

Spread your browned sausage over the pizza. Top with a nice layer of Parmigiano Reggiano. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-17 minutes. Watch it though, I know my oven runs cold so it might take less time in yours.

Wide shot of the pizza:

Close up shot:

Now that you have learned how to make pizza with sausage, smoked mozzarella and pesto, please be sure to view these other pizza recipes. Also, you will love these Italian recipes.