The Vermonter Pizza

For the pizza dough (2 crusts):

1 1/3 cups of warm water

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

1 tablespoon salt

pinch of sugar

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For the toppings(2 pizzas):

1 pound high quality pork breakfast sausage

2 apples cored and sliced thin

2 green onions

3 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese

1/2 cup Vermont maple syrup

fresh rosemary

I make my pizza dough from a recipe in the Joy of Cooking, it goes like this:

In a large bowl or in a stand mixer dissolve the yeast into the warm water, let stand about 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and mix either by hand or on a low setting for 1 minute.

Knead dough for 10 minutes by hand or with a dough hook in a stand mixer on low until it is smooth and elastic.

Place dough into a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and let stand covered in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (about 1-1/2 hours)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and place pizza stone in oven to allow it to preheat for at least 30 minutes.

Punch down the dough and split into 2 evenly sized portions. Roll each portion of dough into a ball and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the toppings.

Cook the pork sausage in a pan, breaking it apart as it cooks until it is done, drain off any grease (you can use some of the pork grease to cook the onions with).

Slice the green onions into small slices.

Slice the apple into thin slices.

Grate the sharp white cheddar cheese.

Flatten the dough balls on a floured work surface and stretch and roll them into 12-14-inch rounds.

Dust the pizza stone with cornmeal and pre-cook each pizza dough for 3 minutes each.

Sprinkle each pizza with the sausage, cheddar cheese, and apples then scatter rosemary leaves on top.

Bake until the crust is golden brown, remove from oven, add the green onion slices and drizzle with maple syrup.

Eat immediately!