Sausage Pesto Pizzazz - $8/family, 3 hrs prep, Medium

1 lb Ground Sausage (regular), cooked and seasoned with: kosher salt, ground black pepper, onion and garlic powder to taste.
½ jar Basil Pesto (or about ½ cup if making your own), divided
½ Red bell pepper
1 Roma tomato
½ small onion
2 TBS soft margarine or soft butter
1 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
Honey Kissed Dough (recipe follows)

Honey Kissed Dough:
3 cups Flour
1 pkg Yeast
1 ¼ cup Hot Water
1TBS Honey
1 Tsp Salt
1 ½ TBS Oil
Mix half of flour together with yeast and salt. Add water *with honey mixed in it*. Combine gently with fork. Add in remaining flour. Knead gently until all flour is combined then roll into large ball and coat with oil, squeezing the oil slightly into the ball. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

1)      Brown Sausage

2)      Make dough (for freezer club, a doubled dough recipe makes about 2 ½ dough balls, I made 5 batches and distributed the dough into 6 balls).         

3)      Roll dough ball onto floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness into a rectangular shape.  Spread with softened butter then spread about 2 TBS of pesto on top of butter.

4)      Mix remaining pesto together with browned, seasoned sausage and spread out over the buttered dough, leaving a ½ inch around the edges.

5)      Top sausage with red peppers, onions, tomatoes and shredded cheese.

6)      Fold shorter sides over sausage, then begin rolling the longer side like a jelly roll. Place seam side down on greased cookie sheet.

7)      Spread the top with butter or egg wash and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Freezer Club Prep: I used 2 onions, 2 red peppers, and a little more than 5 lbs of flour. When the meal was completely assembled, I placed the filled dough on foil that was sprayed with olive oil. I also sprayed the top of the dough with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Baking From Frozen: Either allow to thaw on the counter for several hours and then bake with directions above or to prepare straight from the freezer, bake at 400 for 30 minutes, unwrapping foil for the last 5 minutes. *Place in the oven immediately before pre-heated if baking from frozen*
**Side Note: This dough recipe is our family's pizza dough recipe. It makes 2 large pizzas – it is *so* good!!