Week #4: Arkansas - Sausage, Beans & Grits Pizza

On Naan Bread

State:  Arkansas

I have never been to Arkansas before, but from my research, the state is big on BBQ and pork.  The style of cuisine is southern and comfort food.  Arkansas is also the "spinach capital of the world."  They have a Popeye statue, so you know I had to use spinach in this pizza.  My goal was to live up to Arkansas with southern comfort food, that tastes amazing and it came out great!   

Ingredients Needed:
1-2 Smoked Sausages sliced  
1 cup of baked beans
1 cup of cheddar cheese
1/3 cup of BBQ Sauce
1 cup of spinach
1/2 cup of grits
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 pizza crust 
1 cup freshly grated Cheddar Cheese
Pepper to taste

Sauce:
For the sauce, I was lazy for this one as well.  I used a BBQ sauce from Whole Foods that didn't have any chemicals or preservatives.  Going forward, my next BBQ sauce will be home made.  

Meat:

For the smoked sausage, you can either grill or bake at 400 in the oven, flipping over on both sides every so often.  Cook until the sausage reaches 190 degrees or is completely cooking.  Take the sausage out of the oven and allow meat to cool.  Cut sausage into slices and set aside.      

Pizza:
This pizza was pretty quick and easy to prepare.  Cover base of pizza crust with a thin layer of the olive oil.  Then, add the BBQ sauce and cover the base of the pizza.  Next, add the grits in a thin layer over the top of the BBQ Sauce.  Add the sliced sausage and arrange in a manner that every slice will two pieces of meat on it.  Next, add the spinach and baked beans.  Then cover all toppings and pizza with the cheddar cheese.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on crust), or until the crust and cheese starts to brown slightly.  Take out of oven and allow pizza to cool.  Cut and eat.  

Pairing:
When pairing a BBQ style pizza, I always think about a good Pale ale or an IPA.  You need a good balance of hops with the sweet and tangy BBQ sauce.  I am not too familiar with brewing companies from Arkansas, but I hear Diamond Bear Brewing Company is pretty good.  A light wine like a Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay would be a good fit for this pizza as well.   Cheers! 

Learning Moments: 
I am writing this blog after the fact, so I am able to know the transition that has taken place after making this pizza.  At this time, I have never put baked beans or grits on a pizza. This pizza definitely challenged me to go outside the box, but I felt that I needed to step up my game on making everything from scratch.  You will notice a difference from this pizza to when I made the California pizza.