As far as weekend meals go, this is one of my favorites so far! It combines two things I love deeply, breakfast for dinner and pizza. While I haven’t quite perfected the breakfast pizza like Fry Springs has, this was a valiant first try! I try to use produce that’s in season so amidst the cheesy goodness is fresh asparagus and sautéed onions and mushrooms. Then it was topped with diced chicken sausage and baked eggs. Last but not least, this super simple blender hollandaise sauce drizzled on top to make it feel more breakfasty and luxurious. [announcement: it also would be perfect for hosting a brunch OR eating cold after a late night out. ]
First thing’s first, let me fill you in on the overwhelmingly delicious and filling Fry Spring’s breakfast pizza that my friend Shruti and I can’t help but treat ourselves to whenever she comes to visit. This is definitely breaky pizza goals and you deserve a picture and quick description. Plus- if you ever find yourself in Charlottesville looking for a great brunch place, a place with gluten free pizza crusts one that serves up Sunday breakfast with a side of live music and a cocktail made out local cider- this is your spot.
Okay back to business… my own version struck me on a rainy Saturday night as I was craving pizza but wanted to use the fresh asparagus and mushrooms we had in the fridge. Really this could be easily changed seasonally to work with whichever veggies are freshest! After taking stock of what we had, which included this Wild Mushroom and Herb chicken sausage ( our most recent favorite) I cheated and went to the store to grab pizza dough and a mix of mozzarella pizza cheeses, but If you’re feeling ambitious and have a little extra time, try your hand at making pizza dough from scratch! The dough in this recipe is great and has a really nice, slightly sweet taste.
Start by prepping all of the toppings while you preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Start by sautéing the sliced mushrooms and onions in olive oil over medium/low heat for a good 5-10 minutes, until caramelized. I’ll admit my excellent su chef aka boyfriend had the onions caramelizing before I got back in from the store as I tend to get inpatient and rush the process. It pays off to cook them low and slow and covered to really get the flavors.
Once those are cooked down, put aside and crisp up the chicken sausage. I chopped mine pretty small so it could get crispy, but you could leave it sliced thicker so it’s more like a pepperoni style cut. I also sliced the asparagus into thin diagonal pieces and put in a bowl with a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper.
When the oven’s pre heated, lay down parchment paper on a baking sheet and cover lightly with olive oil. Then roll out either your fresh or store bought dough on the paper and pre cook for about 3-5 minutes. This just lets the dough firm up a bit as your cheese, toppings and in this case egg, won’t have to cook for very long. Once the dough’s baked a bit, spread some olive oil on it and start laying down the toppings. I started with the caramelized onions and mushrooms, trying to spread them evenly on the dough. Then I sprinkled on about half the cheese, evenly dispersed the chicken sausage across the pizza and topped with more cheese. Finally I added the asparagus sliced on top.
Note: if you want to include eggs in your version, leave about 3-4 circular spaces on the pizza open, where you can crack an egg directly onto the dough. The # of eggs depends on how many of you are eating and want this-as the egg part is best eaten the same night & not for leftovers.
Let the pizza bake for a few minutes, until the cheese starts to melt, and then crack the eggs onto the dough in the divots created. Top with a touch of salt and pepper and put back in the oven for about 10 minutes. I took the pizza out once the crust was a little crispy and a toasty brown and the egg whites were cooked through but the yolk still appeared runny.
The last minute of the pizza cooking I started melting the butter for the blender hollandaise sauce as it only takes about 5 minutes to make and the sauce will set ( thicken) if it’s not served warm. I followed this recipe ( also linked at the start of the post) pretty exactly but added more lemon to taste and a touch of paprika.
As the pizza cools for a few minutes the egg whites will continue to harden a bit, so don’t be too worried if they appear a tiny bit softer than you’d like when you first take it from the oven. We also found cutting the pizza into squares worked well since it was baked on a rectangular sheet pan.
Cut the pizza up, top with whatever you prefer and dig in!
I like mine topped with jalapeno slices and a drizzle of hollandaise sauce and Adam loves his pizza dipped in ranch. However you serve it- this one is definitely a crowd pleaser and is a different take on breakfast for dinner.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!!
Prep Time | 30 minutes |
Cook Time | 15 minutes |
Servings |
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- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 links Wild Mushroom & Herb Chicken Sausage or whatever type you prefer
- 3 Eggs
- 1 roll Pizza Dough I used pillsbury
- 4 stalks Asparagus
- 5-7 Button Mushrooms
- 1 Large yellow onion
- 6 oz Shredded Pizza Cheese About 3/4 of a standard 8 oz bag of pizza cheese
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter one stick
- 2-3 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 3 Egg Yolks
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
Ingredients
Pizza
Blender Hollandaise Sauce
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- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Place parchment paper on a sheet pan and cover in a light coating of olive oil.
- Slice the mushrooms and yellow onion and caramelize over low heat for about 20 minutes. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter to the olive oil to help with caramelization. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Dice the chicken sausage and crisp over medium heat in olive oil, about 5-10 minutes.
- Diagonally slice asparagus and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and put aside in a bowl.
- Spread pizza dough on the parchment covered sheet pan and rub some olive oil on the dough. Bake just the dough for about 3 minutes in the oven, letting it firm up.
- Remove from oven and top pizza! Start with onions and mushrooms spread evenly as the base. Then spread the cheese over the entire pizza. Make 3 circular divets in the pizza where the eggs will bake, and leave bare. Then spread the chicken sausage all over the pizza. Finally top with additional cheese and asparagus slices.
- Bake for 5 minutes as the cheese starts to melt and dough starts to crisp.
- Then remove from oven and crack eggs into their spaces. Top with dash of salt and pepper and bake for another 10/12 minutes, until the whites have hardened but yolk remains soft.
- Remove from heat and let egg white's set while pizza cools. Cut and serve!
- The last 2 minutes the pizza is baking, separate 3 egg yolks and whites. Keep the yolks and dispose of the whites.
- Add 2-3 tbls fresh lemon juice into the yolks with a pinch of salt and paprika. Pour into the blender.
- Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter over medium heat. Let the butter heat so much it gets foamy.
- Blend the yolks, lemon juice and spices together and slowly pour in the melted butter in sections while blending. After all the butter's been added check the consistency of the sauce as it should have thickened and be a light rich yellow.
- Add additional lemon juice/paprika to taste and serve immediately. If not serving asap while warm- keep in enclosed container, resting in luke warm water to keep the sauce from hardening.
7 Comments
This is beautiful!
Thank you!! 🙂 Let me know if you try it!
Love the idea of the Hollandaise sauce on top of the pizza…decadent!
Frankly, i’d put hollandaise on anything that doesn’t move…
Lovely!
I completely agree!! Hollandaise on everything is the preferred way of life. 🙂 haha
YOU CAN NEVER GO WRONG WITH BREAKFAST PIZZA!!! I’m amazed at how beautifully green those asparagus are! This seriously looks like heaven on a plate
I 500% agree!! Thanks for always throwing down on some foods with me. I had to dig up that pic of the hangover pizza from last year and it definitely means we need to do that again asap. && I KNOW! Can’t believe how gorgeous the asparagus has looked this spring! Buy some asap and put it on everything. <3
YES! Can’t wait to start hitting up those farmer’s markets!