Butternut Squash Pizza with Bacon and
Onions Recipe
Recipe Type:
Pizza,
Pizza Dough,
Squash,
Onions
Yields:
2
(14-inch) pizzas or 1 (24-inch) pizza
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients:
Parmesan Thin Crust Pizza Dough (see recipe below)
Butternut Squash Topping Sauce (see recipe below)
3 tablespoons butter
1 to
2 large sweet
onions,
thinly sliced into rings
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese
2 to 3 slices crisp-cooked lean bacon, crumbled
Preparation:
Prepare Parmesan Thin Crust
Pizza Dough according to recipe below.
Prepare Butternut Squash Topping Sauce
according to recipe below.
When ready to assemble,
preheat the oven and pizza stone or tiles to 450 degrees F.
In a large frying pan over low heat, melt butter.
Add the onion rings and slowly sauté, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and just beginning to
color, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Spread the prepared Butternut
Squash Topping Sauce mixture
evenly over the surface of the pre-cooked pizza dough. Scatter the sautéed
sliced onions evenly over the topping. Scatter crumbled feta or goat cheese
over the top. Scatter the crumbled bacon over the top of the feta or goat
cheese.
Bake the pizza in the center
of the oven until the crust is golden brown, the topping mixture is set, approximately 15 to 20
minutes.
Remove your pizza from the
oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a serving pan.
This cooling down step allows the crust to stay crisp and the topping to
set. Once cool, cut your pizza into slice and serve.
Makes 2 (14-inch) pizzas or 1
(24-inch) pizza.
Parmesan
Thin Crust Pizza Dough:
2/3 cup warm water (110
degrees F.)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin
olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
2 cups bread
flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry
yeast* The amount of
Parmesan cheese used will indicated how much water will need to be added. I always
seem to add more Parmesan cheese than the 1/2 cup water called for in the
recipe. Because of this, I always need to add the extra 1/2 cup water. If you
think you need to add additional water, add warm water, a tablespoon at a time).
Add all the ingredients in the bread pan of bread machine.
Process according to manufacturer's instructions for a dough setting. It
should form a nice elastic ball. If you think the dough is too moist,
add additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same is true if the
dough is looking dry and gnarly. Add warm water (a tablespoon at a
time).
When dough cycle has finished, remove dough from pan and place
into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and
let the dough do a slow rise for 24 hours in the refrigerator before
using. Do not skip this step.
When ready to use, remove from refrigerator and allow the
dough to come to room
temperature, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
Meanwhile preheat the oven and pizza stone or tiles to
450 degrees F.
Turn the dough out onto a large surface
and dust the pizza dough with flour. Pick up the dough and, keeping both
hands together, grasp it lightly at the top of the edge. Letting gravity
do the work, start rotating the dough as though you are turning the
steering wheel of a car and don’t stop until you’ve gone all the way
around. This will stretch the dough without the risk of thinning out the
center too much. Roll and stretch the dough out very thin to form a 24-inch
or larger circle.
Place the
dough on the prepared peel. The dough must be docked.
NOTE: Thin pizza crusts usually
need to be well docked to help control blistering and bubble formation during
baking. This just means to prick it all over the middle part (not the edges) so
that it doesn't inflate. Either use a dough docker or use a fork to prick the
dough thoroughly.
Pre-cook the pizza crust for approximately 4 minutes before adding any toppings. After pre-cooking, remove the partially
baked crust from the oven and pop any large air pockets with a fork. Let crust
cool before topping (this will produce a crispy and chewy crust).
Butternut Squash Topping Sauce:
2/3 cup Butternut Squash Puree*
1/3 cup ricotta cheese or large curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 large
egg
Coarse
salt
Coarsely-ground black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* To Make
Butternut Squash Puree: Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise and
remove seeds. Place squash, cut side down, in a shallow pan on aluminum foil or Silpat-lined
baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F. until squash is soft, approximately 45 to 60 minutes
(depending on the size of your squash). Remove from oven and let cool. When
cool, scoop out the cooked flesh/pulp (discarding the shell), place the pulp in
a food
processor and process until smooth. Measure out the amount you need for this
recipe, and reserve any remaining pulp (either in the refrigerator or freeze) for other uses.
NOTE: This Butternut Squash Puree may be substituted in any recipe that calls
for pumpkin puree. I usually cook up a couple of butternut squash at a time and
refrigerate or freeze the puree.
In a medium-size bowl, beat together the
Butternut Squash Puree, ricotta cheese or cottage cheese, creme fraiche or sour cream, egg,
salt, pepper, and nutmeg; set aside until ready to use.
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 Pizza Stone:
A baking stone
should be placed on the lowest oven shelf and preheated with the oven. Once
pre-heated, the stone evenly transfers intense heat to the food being
cooked, ensuring a particularly crisply baked base.
As to if it might crack, this I do not know, as I have never had it
happen. I always place the cold pizza stone in a cold oven. I then turn on
the oven to 400 degrees F. to preheat oven and stone. Once the stone is hot,
I do not remove it from the oven. I place the pizza on the hot stone in the
oven.
 Unglazed
Terra Cotta Tiles:
I, personally use these tiles all the time in
my oven. You must make sure that they are "unglazed" tiles only. They are
very cheap to buy (You can find them at any hardware/home store. I buy them
at my local Home Depot). I even leave them in my oven when
using the self-cleaning cycle. I bought enough to line the bottom shelf of
my oven. Most of the time, I just leave them in the oven all the time
as these tiles don’t effect the oven’s performance and are
great to help stabilize the heat when cooking or baking. - Linda
Stradley
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Hints from Shelley Booth of Phoeniz,
AZ: For bread and pizza baking I use
inexpensive unglazed terra cotta tiles. From experience as a potter I know
that terra cotta is food safe when unglazed and not for storing
liquid. Terra cotta in general is fired at a lower temperature when not
glazed and has not vitrified, thus it is porous, which makes it ideal to use
as plant pots but not for liquid storage.
I preheat the oven for one hour,
tiles on lower rack, where it stays unless something bulky is baked. Dust
the tiles with cornmeal and slide the pizza skin or bread and bake until
done. I often pre-bake the pizza skin to a point where the skin is done and
just starting to brown. Cool and then add whatever desired and baked again
until brown and cheese bubbly.
Another thought, when baking
anything I will put the container on the preheated tiles. The
concept behind this that ovens, especially electric cycle on and off
in order to maintain the set cooking temperature without
spiking. This result in a variable oven temperature and when baking
bread this could effect the end product. The tiles store heat and
thus help maintain a consistent temperature. A gas oven, which I
use, does the same cycling but not as often and maintains the temp
profile better.
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Baker's or
Pizza Peel:
Sprinkle cornmeal all
over the surface of a baker's or pizza peel before using.
Pizza Tips:
-
A helpful hint is to put a piece of parchment paper on the peel instead of using cornmeal. I place the rolled-out pizza dough on the parchment paper and then add the toppings. The parchment goes into the oven with the pizza. This makes it easier to slide the pizza off the peel and onto the baking stone.
-
If you don't
have a peel, an upside-down cookie sheet will do if you use
parchment paper. Just slide the pizza onto the stone with the
paper.
-
Does pizza have to be a circle? - You can make them triangular, square, diamond, or anything else
you can imagine. Just change the shape of your pan to the shape of a crust
that fits your imagination.
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