Butternut Squash, Red Onion, Spinach & Goat Cheese Pizza

I love making homemade pizza. It's super easy and I don't have to worry about whether or not Logan will have enough to eat. Tonight's was a simple pizza adapted from Epicurious. Of course it came with a few changes, I'm not sure I could follow a recipe these days even if I tried. So here's the goods:

Butternut Squash, Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza

Ingredients

2 cups cubed butternut squash (1/2-inch pieces)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 ball (16 ounces) store-bought whole-wheat pizza dough, at room temperature
2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons cornmeal

 

Directions

Heat oven to 400°. Heat pizza stone on bottom rack (or use an inverted 11" x 16" cookie sheet, not heated). Toss squash with 1 teaspoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. On a baking sheet, cook squash until soft and lightly browned, 25 minutes, stirring halfway through; set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Cook onion (season with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper), stirring, until light brown, 10 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water; cook, stirring, until brown, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Turn oven up to 450°. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface. Press dough into a 15-inch circle or 10" x 16" rectangle. Top with squash, onion, spinach, cheese and thyme. Dust stone or inverted sheet with cornmeal; place pizza on it. Bake until crust is crispy and cheese melts, 10 to 12 minutes.

I used pre-made dough from Meijer, it's the best I have found. It's called Tiseo's. I swear by the stuff. In turn I opted out of the cornmeal, it's not going to make or break ya. The other BIG changes I made were to cook my quash with thyme and ancho chile pepper. I also added herb infused olive oil to pizza before I laid the ingredients on top - just to give it some more flavor. Other than that I pretty much "followed" the directions/ingredients.

I will admit this was the first time I had cooked with squash. Sure I've had the sugar loaded fatten-ya-up squash at the holidays but I've never dealt with it personally. I also found out why. Squash is a pain in the ass to cut and peel. Honestly, carpal tunnel anyone? Then you have to get the goop out like it's Halloween and your scooping a pumpkin. I love squash, but man this is a relationship you have to work at.

All that being said I LOVED the pizza. The flavors were so yummy. You don't feel like you ate a heavy pizza afterward and it's not overly horrible for you - PLUS!

Would I Make it Again: Yeppers
Noming Score: 3.75/5