Thin Crust Squash and Roasted Red Pepper Pizza

Description

This is a wonderful thin crust pizza. It can be prepared using homemade or store bought fresh pizza dough…just be sure to follow the instructions for handling the dough which are at the bottom of our Traditional Pizza Dough Recipe. Be sure to bake the pizza in a 500°F to create a thin crisp crust.

Baked squash is a wonderful addition to this thin crust pizza. Its soft texture contrasts with the crispy crust and the flavour complements the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Makes one 14” pizza (4 servings of 2 pieces each) or 10-12 Tasting Party servings.

Printable Recipe

 

Ingredients

SQUASH
1 whole	Acorn squash – peel removed and cut in 2″ pieces
2 Tbsp	Roasted Garlic Olive Oil
1 tsp	Tuscan Herb Blend
To taste	Pepper – freshly ground
To taste	Salt – preferably fleur de sel
DOUGH
1 recipe	Traditional Pizza Dough, prepared “Thin Crust Style” (or purchased fresh dough, but still follow our Thin Crust instructions)
PIZZA
1 Tbsp	Roasted Garlic Olive Oil
1/2 cup	Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
1/2 cup	Goat cheese – sliced in 1/8 – 1/4″ thick pieces
1/2 cup	Kalamata or black olives – pitted, cut in half length-wise
1/4 cup	Roasted red peppers – cut in 1/2″ pieces
3 Tbsp	Parmesan cheese – freshly grated, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 Tbsp	Tuscan Herb Blend
To taste	Roasted Garlic Olive Oil

 

Instructions

To prepare the squash:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Place the squash in a baking pan. Toss in the Roasted Garlic Olive Oil, Tuscan herbs, pepper and salt. Bake for 40 minutes, turning once at half time. The finished product should be soft enough to gently insert a fork. Remove from the oven and let sit until chilled. This can be done 1-2 days ahead, just keep the cooked squash tightly covered in the refrigerator.

To prepare the pizza:
1. Prepare the pizza dough according to the “thin crust” instructions.”
2. Preheat the oven to 500°F.
3. To prepare the pizza brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. Spread the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce over the dough. Arrange the goat cheese, olives, and roasted red peppers on top. Evenly spread the cheese and Tuscan Herbs over all the ingredients. Drizzle the Roasted Garlic Olive Oil over the entire pizza.

3. Bake on the lower oven rack for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve warm.