Vegan Pizza with Butternut Squash Sauce
On Saturday, SVCG had a wonderful volunteer appreciation party after many years. John and I settled on some homemade pizzas I make in my spare time for the grand snack our volunteers could have, but I wanted to try something a little different. After much searching, I came upon the website of Dana Schultz, otherwise known as the Minimalist Baker, and her recipe for a Butternut Squash Veggie Pizza: http://minimalistbaker.com/butternut-squash-veggie-pizza/
You can check out her tasty recipe or you can read further here for SVCG's watered down version:
You're going to need a couple of ingredients, but honestly (and Dana mentions this too), as long as you have the dough and the squash sauce, you can have whatever toppings you want.
Both the original recipe, and SVCG went with store bought, ready made pizza dough (but dough is quite easy to make if you want to try).
The squash sauce requires butternut squash, salt & pepper, garlic cloves, and olive oil.
We used chickpea, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, oregano, and basil for toppings.
Cooking time! This is how we did it:
*First, I'm not going to use exact measurements here because (for me personally) cooking ultimately ends up being experimental and tailored to the people cooking as well as the circumstances. So you may use a lot more garlic for the squash or more seasoning, etc. During the party, we didn't follow the recipe to the tee either.
Anyway, the first step is to take care of the sauce. We had an entire squash but unless the pizza is particularly big, the entire squash certainly doesn't need to be used. We sliced off the skin with big knife (it's quite tough), and then cubed it into small squares. Then after the squash was tossed and mixed with a couple of teaspoons of garlic paste (the original recipe makes use of peeled, sliced garlic cloves), a tablespoon of olive oil, and seasoning, it was laid out in a baking sheet and put in the oven.
Set to 400 degrees F and leave in for about 15-20 minutes, or when it's fork tender and the edges look crispy.
While the squash is softening, the chickpeas can be sauteed in olive oil along with the onions and broccoli, as well as seasoning (S&P), a teaspoon or two, and oregano.
Put over medium in a skillet and saute for about 5-10 minutes or until the onions are transparent.
If there is still time left on the squash, you can form the dough.
After the squash is out from the oven, it's time to puree it with maple syrup and olive oil until it's creamy and smooth.
Preheat the oven 425 degrees F, and prepare the pizza with sauce and toppings. Leave the pizza in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is starting to golden and the bottom is a nice golden brown.
And enjoy!
(Try adding lots of different herbs, especially oregano, chives, and basil before and after the pizza has been baked for more flavour. More onions and well seasoned chick peas would also give it more oomph. We didn't use cheese, but go for it, you can find vegan cheese in large grocery retailers)
