Butternut squash is my latest secret ingredient that our family has fallen in love with. Honestly, I only ever roast it but after that point it can be used a bunch of yummy ways. I put this pizza together with some other favorite ingredients for my book club the other night. Here's the recipe - it's another one of those un-recipes... I'll tell you the ingredients and how I prepped them but you can add however much of each that you like.
I started with an awesome pizza dough recipe I came across online. It's thin and chewy with an nice taste. Left my old thick crust recipe behind for this one. I found it here.
This recipe makes enough for six 12" pizzas and my family is usually good with 2 for dinner, with sides. The rest keeps great in the freezer. Of course, you can use your own recipe or prepared crust or flatbread or tortilla, you get the point...
All the toppings I prepped ahead of time - the squash and onions take a long time. They aren't labor intensive, you just need to plan ahead. Also, you could make a huge batch of everything and make a couple freezer meals out of it.
To roast the squash:
Peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1/2" chunks. Coat with olive oil - be generous here, otherwise you get dry, chalky squash instead of creamy, caramelized goodness. Season with salt and pepper. I usually also mix in chopped garlic and any herb I feel like that day, fresh or dried both work great. Cook at 350 degrees for a long, long time until soft in the middle and deep golden brown on the outside, usually takes 3-4 hours. Stir a couple times in between and add more olive oil if you notice it drying out too much.
Note: I under salted the squash a little since I planned to salt the pizza.
To caramelize the onions:
Cut sweet or yellow onions into rounds or strips. Sometimes I cut them thicker, like 1/2" and sometimes I do them thinner - doesn't really matter as long as they are uniform. Cook in a frying pan on the stove on low heat for a long, long time until soft and golden brown, usually 2-3 hours. The key here is to cook them low and slow - you don't want them to fry or cook too fast or they won't caramelize. Season with salt and pepper. I also usually add in some chopped garlic the last half hour.
To prep the sage:
Wash and dry some fresh sage. Cut into 1/4" strips. Coat with some olive oil so they crisp up in the oven. You could probably just put them on without the oil but I was worried about them just getting burned instead of crisp.
To put the pizza together:
Get your crust to the point where you're ready to put toppings on it. Coat the top with a thin layer of olive oil. Top with some roasted squash, caramelized onions, feta and sage. Add some crushed sea salt and bake according to your recipe. Enjoy!!
By the way, since we're talking about squash and you took all that time to roast it, my family also loves it on pasta. I'll roast it like above, and put it over spaghetti (but you can use what ever you like). Take your fresh sage leaves and cook them in some butter until they are nice and crisp. Spoon a little sage and butter over the squash. Be advised - it's rich! If you want a healthier version, mix the roasted squash up with some cooked mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, feta and quinoa.
