Butternut Squash Pizza

I finally got around to cracking open one of the butternut squash that we accidentally grew in our garden this summer. Once I did, I realized that I just didn’t feel like cooking anything too involved. So, I decided to chop it up super-small and crossed my fingers that it would cook after just 15 minutes in the oven, while simultaneously being baked into a functional topping on this pizza. Luckily it worked! 

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had anything to write about…

The trick here is to make sure you take the time to chop and slice the squash, leeks, and apples small enough that they’re able to fully cook in the short amount of time they have to do so. You could certainly sauté the leeks, squash and apples together first before you top the pizza, but like I said, I was lazy and didn’t want to do much more than chopping. On another note, Jon doesn’t even like goat cheese and he loved this pizza. He said it tasted very savory, and that the slices looked like “perfect slices of pizza.” I can’t help but agree with him.

Butternut Squash Pizza
Makes 1 pizza

1 ball of your favorite pizza dough, room temperature
2-3 oz fresh goat cheese
1 TB olive oil
2 TB pure maple syrup
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg, plus more for garnish
1 TB fresh chopped sage, plus whole leaves for garnish
Kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper
½ leek halved, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped butternut squash (very small dice, about the size of a corn kernel)
½ Honeycrisp apple, very thinly sliced
2 slices cooked bacon, chopped
Small handful pecans, chopped
2 oz aged Gouda, grated

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Lightly oil a baking sheet and stretch dough to your desired shape. The warmer the dough is, the easier it will be to work with. 

In a small bowl, combine goat cheese with olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chopped sage. Season with a pinch of salt. Spread goat cheese mixture over dough, leaving a small border for the crust. Scatter the remaining ingredients over the top of the dough in the order listed. Garnish with a bit more nutmeg grated over the top, as well as some pepper and a few whole sage leaves tossed in a bit of olive oil. 

Bake pizza for 15 minutes and rest for a couple minutes before slicing.

What are you favorite pizza toppings?

Cheers! Alex