Butternut Squash Pizza with Crispy Kale

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I have a pizza obsession. Specifically, a homemade pizza obsession. I blame the sourdough starter (she needs a name, taking recommendations in the comments below). However, it does often lead to delicious dinners like this butternut squash pizza.

It’s officially fall and this pizza takes a quintessential fall ingredient and puts it together with complementary vegetables.

• butternut squash
• kale
• sage

It’s like Thanksgiving on a pizza. Minus the turkey. Actually, you could probably make this pizza with Thanksgiving leftovers. I’m going to work on that.

The onions on this pizza are caramelized for savory, sweet, smooth additions to the pizza. The garlic and sage are added at the very end to bring out their flavors. Dried herbs like this sage benefit for a bit of frying in oil to help release their flavors. Sweet and earthy butternut squash is roasted to highlight the flavor, then added on top of the pizza.

The kale is added raw so it adds a bitter complement and a crispy contrast. Of course there’s the smoked mozzarella cheese too. The key is layering the smoked mozzarella between the other ingredients of this butternut squash pizza.

This butternut squash pizza. It’s fall. And you’re ready for it.

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Butternut Squash Pizza with Sage and Crispy Kale

A seasonal butternut squash pizza is perfect for fall. With sage and crispy kale, this homemade pizza is an excellent vegetarian option.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 558 kcal

Ingredients

• 16 to 20- ounces pizza dough, room temperature (store bought or homemade)
• 1 butternut squash, about 1.5 to 2 pounds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 bunch lacinato kale, stems removed (about 4 cups chopped)
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons dried sage
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 10 ounces smoked mozzarella (275 g)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Roll out half the dough onto a floured surface and let rest until ready to assemble pizza.
3. While oven is heating, peel and dice butternut squash into 3/4 to 1-inch cubes. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and salt. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and roast butternut squash for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender.
4. While squash is roasted, remove stems from kale and roughly chop.
5. Dice onion and mince garlic.
6. Heat a heavy bottomed pan over medium and melt butter. When butter is warm, add onion and a pinch of salt. Stir well and let onions cook 15 to 20 minutes until fragrant, translucent and beginning to caramelize. Add sage and garlic and cook 5 to 10 minutes more.
7. Optional step: When squash is done roasting, mix ricotta with 1 cup of roasted squash by hand with a fork or in a food processor until well combined to create squash ricotta.
8. Increase oven temperature to 450°F for pizza.
9. Transfer dough to baking sheet or pizza stone. Layer half of the ricotta, onion garlic sage mixture, raw kale and butternut squash with smoked mozzarella in between layers. Finish with a final layer of smoked mozzarella.
10. Bake pizza for 15 minutes until dough is crisp and cooked through.
11. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings.

Recipe Notes

SEASONED SECRET

You could swap out the butter for olive oil to cook the onions but the butter adds a richness to the caramelized onions. You could also use bacon fat to add extra smokiness to the pizza.

VEGAN

Swap out the ricotta and butter for your preferred substitute, or omit entirely. Drizzle a bit of extra olive oil on the dough before topping with ingredients.

GLUTEN FREE

Use your favorite premade gluten free pizza dough or make your own with this mix from Bob’s Red Mill (<-affiliate).

OMNIVORE

While this is a tremendously filling pizza that doesn’t need extra protein, cooked Italian sausage or chicken apple sausage would complement the flavors of the sage and butternut squash.

CHECK THE FRIDGE

Other squash such as acorn or delicata would be excellent with this pizza. Try it with a smoked gouda if you don’t have smoked mozzarella. Even broccoli could be swapped for the kale in this butternut squash pizza.

FROM SCRATCH

Instead of store bought dough, you can make your own dough with this simple pizza dough recipe. Or try my favorite sourdough pizza crust from King Arthur Flour! I usually get 2 pizzas from this recipe, enough for 4 to 6 servings.

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