Pizza Clack – Butternut squash, sage and prosciutto

One of our favorite things to cook together as a family is pizza. Sure, the bread machine makes the dough, but I stretch it out on the pan (or Keith rolls it out and grills it when weather permits), Owen pinches and snitches chunks of raw dough while he spreads the sauce on, and we all take turns sprinkling on the marvelous toppings that make it pizza.

Since we have trouble doing almost anything the traditional way, we tend to come up with rather strange topping combinations. Sure, I guess red sauce and cheese might be good and all, but have you ever had a butternut squash, sage and prosciutto pizza before?

Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it; this one wins us rave reviews and requests for the recipe whenever we serve it.

This recipe is based on one in an old Vegetarian Flip Book for Cooks that I have (Yes, you can find anything on eBay….). I have, of course, tweaked it considerably, obviously adding the prosciutto (that’s meat, people).

Butternut Squash, Sage and Prosciutto Pizza
- makes 2 12-inch pizzas

Ingredients:

• crust of your choice
• tomato sauce (about 1/2 can for 2 12-inch pizzas)
• 1 package of all-natural prosciutto (Trader Joe’s), ripped into small pieces
• 1 onion or 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1/2 butternut squash,peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1 bunch of fresh sage
• crumbled feta cheese
• grated 4-cheese blend (Quattro Formaggio from Trader Joe’s)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees, or 400 degrees convection roast if you’ve got it. Toss the onion or shallot, the squash and half of the sage leaves in olive oil and sperad on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, spread the sauce, remaining sage leaves (you can coarsely chop them if you like; we do) and the proscuitto on your pizza crusts. When the other ingredients are ready, spread them on the crusts and then top with both kinds of cheese to your liking.

Cook according to your crust directions (we use 450 degrees for 14 minutes) and enjoy. And no, it’s not weird to eat pizza without garlic. Really.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Mar 02, 2009 @ 10:26 EST5EDT