Butternut (Again)
After my revelatory butternut ravioli, I had half of a roasted squash left to use (the ones at our market this fall have been enormous). I also had some Italian sausage left over, and that combination worked so well that I came up with this very fall pizza. Super-thin, crispy crust worked well with this robust flavor combination, although now I’m thinking that these ingredients would also work well in a calzone. Maybe I’ll try that next week. Like the ravioli, this pizza would be good without the sausage for a vegetarian alternative.
What follows is not so much a recipe as a suggestion; I’m sure there are tons of ways to vary this with good success. Amounts for pizza are always for me a matter of taste — if you love blue cheese, throw on a hefty portion; if you only like it a little at a time, sprinkle less liberally. I could be wrong, but I think it would be difficult to mess this up.
Fall Pizza
Your favorite pizza dough or shell
Half of a large butternut squash, cooked and mashed (I cook it like this)
Olive oil
One or two links Italian sausage, sliced and cooked
Blue cheese, amount to taste
1 ripe pear (I used an Asian one and it was delicious), thinly sliced
A couple of handfuls of arugula leaves, washed and roughly chopped or torn
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. If you’re working with uncooked dough, rub it with a bit of olive oil and bake it for about 5 minutes. Spread the warm dough with the mashed squash, using olive oil as needed to thin and spread the mixture. Don’t worry if you don’t get an even coat, just try to cover as much surface area as you can. Top with the pear slices next, distributing them evenly. Sprinkle with as much blue cheese as you desire, and then finish with the cooked sausage rounds. Bake the pizza for another 5-8 minutes, until the pears are very soft and the cheese is melted. Cover the hot pizza with chopped arugula; slice, and serve.
I served this pizza with an extra mound of arugula, dressed with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, cracked pepper, Kosher salt, and shavings of Parmesan cheese.
November 10th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
A fascinating mix of flavors! Think I’ll have to try this. How do you cook the squash–like potatoes for mashing? Also, have you tried leaving the arugula whole and tossing it with some oil, then putting it on the pizza before baking it? I’m guessing it would wilt down like spinach and become more an integral part of it.
November 11th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Hi Terry,
Thanks for stopping by! I should have mentioned how I roast my squash; thanks for pointing out that omission. Here’s an exact recipe, but basically I roast it with basalmic vinegar and cane syrup for a very long time, until it’s falling apart. And, I haven’t ever wilted the arugula on the pizza — I like the contrasting texture the raw leaves provides — but I bet it would be good wilted too.
November 11th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
That looks great, as always!