Butternut Squash And Maple Bacon Pizza Recipe

Making pizza at home is one of my favorite culinary activities. From kneading and shaping the dough to creating sauces and custom toppings, the taste of your start-to-finish pizza is worth every bit of the fun effort. This butternut squash and maple bacon pizza was inspired by my travels in Italy, where unique and seasonal flavor combinations made pizza adventurous. Roasted butternut squash, sweet and salty maple bacon, and caramelized shallots sit atop a crisp and chewy crust flavored with garlic oil. After baking, dollops of ricotta cheese, fresh arugula, and crisp garlic chips add contrasting cool, creamy, and peppery flavor sensations. The richness of melted whole-milk mozzarella and fontina cheeses gives the satisfying, gooey pleasure that fresh pizza brings. 

Learning to make pizza dough is quite easy, and something I always do by hand, and knowing how to make a flavorful, crisp crust gives you the basis for anything you wish to create. Although your dough can be kneaded in a mixer, I find that hand mixing and kneading produce the best texture. The tricky part often comes with shaping the dough, which can be done with both a rolling pin and stretching by hand. Once you get the hang of the dough, the pizza possibilities are endless, and a fun project to share with family and friends. 

To make the pizza dough, you will need 00 flour. In Italy, 00 flour is the common agent used for making distinctive pizzas and pastas due to its fine grind yet still relatively high protein content (necessary for good gluten development). Although 00 flour has become much more readily available in U.S. markets than it once was, if you need a substitution in this recipe, bread flour is your next best bet (just expect a less crispy and more chewy texture to the crust). To activate your dough, you will need rapid rise yeast and warm water, followed up with sea salt and olive oil for flavor. You will also infuse olive oil with garlic slivers to brush on the pizza crust and use as a topping. To make the other pizza toppings, you will need a large butternut squash, thick-cut smoked bacon, maple syrup, and shallots. Shredded whole-milk mozzarella and fontina are your melting cheeses, and whole milk ricotta is added once the pizzas have baked. The final topping is fresh baby arugula tossed with a bit more olive oil.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, and 1 ½ teaspoons salt.

Pour in 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth.

Shape the dough into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover, allowing it to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 425 F.

Toss the butternut squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining ½ teaspoon salt, then spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Roast the squash for about 30 minutes, until tender and just starting to brown, stirring occasionally. Once roasted, set aside.

Add ½ cup olive oil and the sliced garlic to a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

Once the garlic starts to turn golden brown, strain the oil through a fine-mesh sieve into a heat-proof bowl. Reserve both the oil and the garlic chips.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add the bacon pieces. Cook until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered.

Transfer the bacon pieces to a bowl and toss with the maple syrup.

Add the shallots to the skillet with the bacon fat and saute over medium-low heat until soft and golden. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 F with a pizza stone inside.

Punch down the dough and divide into 2 equal portions, rolling into smooth balls.

Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.

Stretch and shape one dough ball into a 10-inch round and place on a floured pizza peel.

Brush the dough with half of the garlic oil.

Add half of the mozzarella and fontina, leaving a ½-inch border for the crust.

Evenly distribute half of the roasted butternut squash, maple bacon, and shallots over the cheese.

Slide the pizza onto the hot stone and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust is charred in spots and the cheese is bubbly.

While the pizza bakes, whip the ricotta with a small whisk or fork until it is light and spreadable.

In a large bowl, toss the arugula with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Add half of the ricotta to the baked pizza in small, evenly spaced spoonfuls.

Scatter half of the garlic chips over top.

Pile half of the tossed arugula in the center of the pizza.

Repeat the process with the remaining dough and ingredients, making a second pizza.

Slice and serve the butternut squash and maple bacon pizzas immediately.

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Butternut squash is one of those items from the produce department that can seem a bit daunting to use. Its hard shell and seedy bottom can be cumbersome and messy to deal with, but I have a few tried-and-true tips to make the process simple and smooth. 

Start by cutting off the stem and bottom ends horizontally. Once you have this flat base, hold the squash upright, bottom flat against a cutting board. Use a sharp and sturdy knife (like a chef's knife) to remove the shell by following the shape of the squash and cutting down lengthwise to remove it in strips, taking as little flesh as possible away. Once your squash is "naked," cut it lengthwise into ½-inch thick slabs. You will then cut these slabs into ½-inch strips, and cut your cubes from the strips.

The bottom section of the butternut squash will contain the seeds. If you have ever cleaned out a pumpkin, this is similar to that process. I like using an ice cream scoop with a sharp edge to scoop away the seeds and membranes. Your squash is now ready to roast or enjoy in a variety of forms.

Having the right equipment to make pizza at home can elevate your pizza game; however, this recipe can also be made with the basics. A specialty pizza oven or a good-quality pizza stone is your best bet for crisp, authentic-tasting pizza from Italy, as the stone helps to hold and distribute heat for fast and even cooking in the dough. Without a stone, you can achieve some of that effect by preheating a baking sheet for your pizza. Place a large baking sheet in your oven when you start to preheat. After shaping your dough, lay it on a piece of parchment paper, then continue with the toppings. You can then lift your pizza onto the hot baking sheet and proceed. The parchment may get overly brown, so you can trim away excess, as needed.

A peel is a handy pizza mover and can also be used for moving breads and pastries in and out of an oven. I often use my wooden peel as a cutting board, and metal peels are handy for using with a grill. In the absence of a peel, you can use the parchment trick above, or try using a wooden cutting board. Simply flour your board as you would with a peel, assemble your pizza, and slide the pizza onto a hot stone or baking sheet. The cutting board will then be handy for receiving your baked pizza for cutting.

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