Brown Butter Butternut

Saturday night I decided to make something a little different.  I have had this lovely little butternut squash toiling away in the cupboard for a few weeks and didn’t want to use it for something “normal”. 

I considered making soup.  But to be honest I’ve never met a butternut squash soup I really liked.  I think it’s the baby food like texture.

I considered making ravioli.  Probably cheater style using wonton wrappers.  I still want to do this.

At the same time I was figuring out my butternut plan, I was also thinking of what the next pizza I should make would be.  At some point, the two ideas collided in my brain and I realized that a butternut squash pizza would probably be deeeeelicious!

I formulated a random recipe in my head, asked Google for a suggestion or two, thawed out a ball of dough, and invited Tiffaney over to be my guinnea pig.  The challenge was on!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pizza with fresh sage and brown butter…

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for roasting)
• 1 ball of pizza dough, store bought or homemade
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 2-3 ounces soft goat cheese (I used herbed)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Fresh sage, coarsely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Roast squash:  On a rimmed baking sheet, spread out squash chunks and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss with your hands to coat.  Sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, tossing once, until squash is soft and edges are browned.  Remove from oven and let stand while preparing the pizza.
3. Brown butter:  Using a heavy bottomed (preferably silver) pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Watch closely and swirl pan occasionally.  When butter begins to turn a warm brown colour, immediately remove from heat to stop cooking process.
4. While butter is browning, roll out your dough and place on pizza stone (or whatever baking sheet you are using).
5. Brush dough liberally with brown butter, sprinkle with onions, sage, roasted squash, and knobs of goat cheese.  Season lightly with salt and pepper, and brush a bit more brown butter over the top.  Sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven and desired crispness.  (I also broil for last three minutes to brown the cheese).  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

My guinnea pig gave it two thumbs up and we ate the whole thing so I must have done something right!

Since I’m always critical of my cooking I kept tossing out other ideas for next time… Roasted garlic. Adding the sage to the brown butter. Roasting the squash with a little maple syrup. 10x more cheeeeeese. :)

Lord knows I never make anything the same way twice, so stay tuned for which of those ideas make it to the plate next time.  Nom!