Sometimes I like a deep dish pizza with a sausage patty, like they generally make it at the famous Gino's East Pizzeria in Chicago. But then at other times I like the sausage spread out a little. Use of the patty is best for "sausage lovers" (which I often am). It's purpose is to provide "a piece of sausage in every bite." I hate ordering sausage on a pizza at a restaurant and then finding that there is only a little piece of sausage every 2 or 3 inches or so. With so little sausage, you basically have a cheese pizza mostly and to me, that's generally not what I wanted.
On the other hand, however, I like the style of deep dish pizza at the famous Lou Malnati's, too, and while many think they, too, put on a sausage patty whenever you order sausage as an ingredient, it is not so. They put a lot of little pieces or chunks of sausage in the pan -- on top of the cheese -- and it often looks like a patty from some of the pictures on the TV shows, but it isn't. Their "default" is to put a lot on, but you can request a lighter amount of sausage at the restaurant to match your tastes.
I often like to leave gaps when applying the sausage in pieces or chunks on my homemade pizzas so that the cheese can bubble up to the top of the pizza and give it that special delectable effect, like I often find at Malnati's. With a sausage patty, that generally does not occur, altho it had with some of my home made pizzas whenever I would put a few pieces of fresh mozzarella on top of the sausage patty.
Some pictures of an earlier pizza I made below will hopefully show what I mean about the gaps and allowing room for the cheese, which is mostly below the sausage, to bubble up in places to the top of the pizza. Best to experiment to see what you and your family and friends like the best. In the end . . . it's all good. --BTB
