• pizza dough (of course you can make it from scratch – just use your favorite recipe)
• fresh mozarella cheese, shredded
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• pizza sauce – store bought or see recipe below, plus more for dipping
• Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled (I used plant based Beyond Beef Hot Italian Sausage – it still is processed but less saturated fat, calories, etc. so it’s a healthier choice even though not the healthiest)
• pepperoni slices (I used turkey -70% less fat) cut in half, place between 2 paper towels and  microwave for about 30 seconds to get rid of some of the grease

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray the mold with nonstick spray and set aside. Take a brush and make sure all the nooks and crannies are covered..

For the first time (I think) I used Pillsbury pizza dough. Buy 2 tubes as I only could get 4-5 skulls out of 1 tube. Use the leftover for a pan pizza! Normally, if I don’t make my own I will buy the dough at my local Italian grocery store – I just didn’t get over there. Roll the dough into a 24×8-inch rectangle with the long edge closest to you. Cut into six 4-inch wide strips x 8 inches. Cut off any excess dough.

Working one at a time, lay dough into skull cavities. In the center of each cavity add a tbsp. mozzarella, a tbsp. grated parmesan, 1 tbsp. pizza  sauce, a little sausage, 3 pepperoni, another tbsp. of sauce, one more tbsp. mozzarella. Fold one edge of dough over the fillings and pinch or press to seal.  Fold the other edge and pinch dough together to seal. Repeat with the remaining skulls.

Place a piece of foil under where the pan will bake to allow for leakage which I did have. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from molds. Serve with extra warm pizza sauce for dipping. Next time if I use pizza crust in a tube I will only bake for 15 minutes.

Pizza Sauce:

• 28 oz. can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• sugar (I added 3 tsp. but adjust to your taste)
• 1 tsp. dried oregano (fresh would be better)
• 1 tbsp. dried basil (fresh would be better)
• 1/2 tbsp. crushed Calabrian chili peppers (to taste) Ingredients: Calabrian Hot Chili Peppers, sunflower seed oil, EVOO, salt, vinegar and basil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-1 tsp. sea salt (to taste)
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Puree the tomatoes and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Heat some of it for the dipping sauce…

Recipe by cookingwithauntjuju.com