I want to make ‘typical’ pizzeria sausage pizza.
What kind of sausage should I buy? I mean, what would it be called at the grocery/deli?
Thanks!
I think you can just use any bulk country sausage <Jimmy Dean’s, etc, in chubs near the bacon> and call it good. Just be sure to drain the grease off it well. Oh, and cook it BEFORE you put it on the pizza. THEN drain the grease off that. It should crumble into bits you can sprinkle wherever you want on the pizza.
In my supermarket it’s called Italian Sausage and comes in sweet and hot varieties.
Sweet italian sausage is what you usually see on pizza.
American style breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean’s etc) have tons of sage and won’t taste “right.”
Ditto on the Italian sausage. Slice the casing and pull it off before you cook it; break it up in the pan and drain off the grease.
I prefer hot Italian sausage, but the sweet version is made with basil and would be tasty. By the way, I’d brown the chunks first and then put them on the pizza. Also, remove the casings if you’re buying links.
You can also pop the sausage on some wadded up paper towel and put it in the microwave for a minute to get rid of the grease. Works for pepperoni, too.
Yep. Italian sausage is what you’ll usually find, and the defining flavor is fennel. You could even make your own bulk Italian sausage at home pretty easily enough. For two pounds ground pork (preferably shoulder), add about 1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds, 1/2 tablespoon black pepper, and 1/2 tablespoon salt. You can also add hot pepper flakes to taste, as well as garlic. Mix all together and let stand for awhile to let the flavors meld (preferably overnight.) No need to stuff into casings or anything like that.
Make your own. Get a pound of hamburger (lean) and mix a half pound of ground pork with it. Add in the following spices in whatever amounts you wish:
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Italian seasoning
Paprika
or look online for measurements you can live with.
Mix well and mold into thin patties and put into the oven to cook. After cooking, drain on paper towel, crumble, and voila!, pizza sausage.
Nothing to add but drain it well, crumble up, and don’t put too much on. Too much topping on pizza is often too much of a good thing.
Thanks guys! Italian sausage it will be. Remove from casing, fry, drain, chunkify, check. 
I think I’ll get BOTH hot and sweet varieties. I’ll be making multiple pies anyway, so it’s a good chance to ‘research.’
For my money, sausage is great with diced onion and green pepper.
I usually buy mine from the local carniceria, which stocks hot Italian sausage that they make themselves. They have the sweet kind too, but I really like the hot type on my pizza, personally.
However, it’s really the crust that’s the key to a superior pizza, IMHO. 
-XT
Pork sausage is common too. Pizzerias do distinguish between the italian or pork sausage on the menu.
I’ve used Chorizo, and it’s delicious on a pizza. Oddly, I’m the only one at my house that enjoys it. So, YMMV.
Depends on location. Here they don’t. I’m not exactly sure where they do, but not here. (Which would be confusing for me because Italian sausage is a pork sausage.) edit: Actually, what is generic pork sausage? I haven’t a clue.
Italian with sauteed peppers and onions on a crusty roll with a bit of brown mustard. . .drooool.
You don’t have to cook the sausage before putting it on the pizza. If you put it on top of the cheese, your normal pizza cooking time will do the trick. One of the best ma and pa pizza joints I worked at did just this. I was a driver, not a cook. But I believe the pan went through the oven in about twelve to fifteen minutes at approximately 400 to 450 degrees. If you’re using a nice quality sausage, you won’t wind up with the puddles of grease that everyone is trying to avoid with the pre-cooked strategy. Plus, *some *grease is good!
Chicago style pies even put uncooked sausage all along the bottom of the pizza - right on top of the crust, and then cover it with tons of cheese and sauce. But these take somewhere around an hour to cook.
You don’t have to for safety, but I recommend it for taste. There is just no browning or searing of pork baked for that short a time. The extra flavor development is totally worth it if you are going to the trouble to make a pizza.
There’s a nearby Italian market I patronize only for its wonderful family recipe fresh sausage. For pizza, I buy the sweet variety. I can always spice up the final product by shaking on the red pepper flakes.
Damn, that place makes good sausage. I ought to go over there during lunch break today and buy a few pounds.