Harvest Pizza

One night in Whistler, my sister and I shared a pizza that was topped with butternut squash, sage, and gorgonzola. It immedietely reminded me of the recipe from How Sweet It Is that I'd been dying to try. Luckily, when my mom decided to make Butternut Squash Risotto for dinner on Sunday, I had her buy extra and save it so I could create this masterpiece of a pizza the following night. 

Instead of making my own dough (I'm too impatient to wait for it to rise), we bought some from the grocery.

Sage pesto, roasted butternut squash, prosciutto, caramelized onions and goat cheese.

What's not to like?!

It's creative (sage pesto..who thinks of that?!), colorful, and a great fall/winter dish!

Harvest Pizza

Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

 1 batch of pizza dough

2/3 cup fresh sage leaves, torn

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

2-3 tbsp olive oil

2 teaspoons finely grated parmesean cheese

1 1/2 cups tiny-cubed butternut squash

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

6 thin slices prosciutto, torn

4 ounces parmesean cheese, freshly grated

8 ounces goat cheese, sliced and crumbled

Step 1. Combine sage, pine nuts and finely grated parmesan cheese in a food processor and blend until combined. Then, stream in the olive oil until a pesto forms. 

Step 2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp butter. Toss in the butternut squash, salt, and pepper. (The original recipe calls for nutmeg here, but we had cooked the butternut squash the night before for another recipe and had therefore omitted it). Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, then stir and cook for about five minutes longer. The cubes should be soft, but not mushy! Once finished, set the butternut squash aside.

Step 3. Using the same pan, add the thinly sliced red onion along with another 1/2 tbsp butter and a pinch of salt. Cover and let caramelize for 15-20 minutes, but make sure you check on it and stir every few minutes so that it doesn't burn. Once finished, set the onions aside.

Step 4. Tear up the prosciutto and place them in the same skillet over low heat and let them cook slightly while stirring. This just makes them crispier on the pizza!

Step 5. Preheat oven to 375.

Step 6. Spread dough onto a baking sheet. Spread the pesto over the dough to make a thin layer. Unless you love sage, I wouldn't add it all! A little goes a long way.

Step 7. Add half the grated parmesan, then the butternut squash, caramelized onions and prosciutto.

Step 8. Place goat cheese on top in little globs, add the rest of the parmesan and bake for 25-30 minutes!

Even Milo wanted some