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smoky squash and eggplant pizza

Author: Taylor Ellingson

Ingredients

for the squash:

  • 1 small butternut squash
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon cream or milk
  • 1-2 tablespoon chiles en adobo sauce depending on how spicy you want it
  • ½ teaspoon salt

for the eggplant:

  • 1 small eggplant
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

for the pizza:

  • ~⅓ cup curly kale roughly chopped
  • pizza crust your favorite homemade recipe or store bought*
  • ~½ cup shredded cheese depends on how big your pizza crust is - Havarti, Mozzarella, or Fontina would all work well

Instructions

To cook the squash:

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  • Cut butternut squash in half. Drizzle with 2 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  • Place cut side up on baking sheet and bake in oven 50-60 minutes, until squash is tender throughout.
  • Remove from oven and let cool.

To cook the eggplant:

  • While squash is cooking, cut eggplant into small triangle pieces. I did this by slicing ¼-1/2" thick slices, then quartering the slices.
  • Place eggplant slices on a baking sheet and season with salt. Let sit for 30 minutes to let the eggplant "sweat."
  • After 30 minutes, there will be some condensation on the eggplant. Dab dry with paper towel.
  • Drizzle eggplant with olive oil, making sure it is well distributed among the pieces.
  • Once butternut squash is done roasting, turn oven's broiler on.
  • Place eggplant on baking sheet under broiler and broil until golden. In my oven, this took about 5 minutes, but watch yours carefully so it does not burn.
  • Remove from oven and let cool.

To make squash puree:

  • Now that the squash is done cooking, scoop out the flesh of into a blender.
  • Combine with the remaining olive oil, cream, chiles en adobo, and salt.
  • Blend until pureed. You may have to mix around with spoon every once in awhile to get it all through the blender, as there is not much liquid for the puree.

To assemble the pizza:

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  • Roll out pizza dough.
  • Spread generous layer of squash puree over crust, as you would with marinara pizza sauce. You will not use all the puree for one pizza.
  • Top with slices of eggplant, along with the raw kale. You will also not need all of the eggplant for one pizza. See note below.
  • Top with shredded cheese - enough to cover the toppings.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
  • Slice and enjoy!

Notes

The toppings you prepare (the squash puree and eggplant) will certainly make more than one pizza, and the amount of toppings you use for each pizza will depend on how large your pizza crust is. If you are not making more than one pizza, or make a couple and have leftovers, the squash puree can be frozen. The eggplant will not hold up well if frozen, so you can throw leftovers in a salad or pasta!
*follow the instructions for the pizza crust you are making, as far as pre-baking the crust if the instructions call for it, oven temperature, baking time. Since the topping ingredients are already cooked, you just want to make sure the cheese gets nice and melted.