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This Roasted Butternut Squash Prosciutto Pizza with Caramelized Onions is the perfect autumn pizza for any night of the week. Fresh pizza dough topped with cider caramelized onions, three kinds of cheese (YUM), salty, crispy prosciutto, and spicy sage roasted butternut squash. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, and the prosciutto is perfectly crisp. The key to this pizza is to bake it on a sheet pan at a high temp until the crust becomes just a little crisp and the cheese is melty. As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven, slice, eat, and ENJOY. Every last bite of this pizza is delicious and will leave you wanting more. It’s savory, a touch spicy, and the perfect mix of fall flavors.
I love a Monday pizza. It’s just good food on a day of the week that doesn’t always feel that special. Pizza on Monday is something to look forward to. Not only that, it’s something fun to do to…assuming you have fun making pizza, which I definitely do!
Little Monday story for you? I was lucky enough to be able to make the third round of this pizza with my sister, Asher, on Saturday night.
She’d been asking if I’d make pizza with her for a couple of days but work things kept getting in the way. I’m so happy we were able to find some time to carve out. Making pizzas with her was surely the highlight of my weekend. She’s the sweetest (but don’t worry, she does have her “sassy” moments too). I had fun helping her push the dough out into the “perfect” pizza with a nice thick crust, just the way she loves it most. I love that I get to be one to teach her how to cook and bake. It’s so much fun helping her and watching her in the kitchen. She’s not nearly as interested in cooking as I was at her age (she just turned 12). But we do have fun cooking together!
She topped her pizza the classic way with tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, while I opted for this fall pizza.
Both are delicious, but mine wins…100% this pizza wins. It is so DELICIOUS!
Start with the dough.
I like to use my homemade pizza dough recipe from the HBH Super Simple cookbook. It’s the easiest to make and truly delicious. If you can think a few hours ahead of time, I’d recommend making your own dough. If not, store-bought pizza dough works great too (Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s both have great options)!
For those of you who prefer a thicker crust pizza, I recommend using closer to three-quarters or even one pound of pizza dough. I prefer a thinner crust, so I only use a half-pound of dough.
Now, let’s make some pizza.
First up, start preheating your oven. You’ll want to get it pretty hot. And if you have a pizza stone, start preheating it!
Now grab that ball of pizza dough and place it on an oiled quarter sheet pan (or a sheet pan of similar size). Let it rest, the longer you can let the dough sit on the pan, the better. Fifteen to thirty minutes will do the trick. This allows the dough time to get puffy, and creates wonderful air pockets.
While that dough is resting, roast up the butternut squash. I love to make the squash spicy with just a touch of heat. I toss it with honey, sage, cinnamon, cayenne, and a pinch each of fennel red pepper flakes too. Roast everything up until it is just tender, it will finish cooking on top of the pizza.
Onto the onions. These are not your typical caramelized onion. Instead of caramelizing the onions in the traditional manner, with sugar, I like to use apple cider. The sweetness from the cider helps the onions take on a really deep golden color while also adding a nice spiced cider flavor. It’s kind of sweet, kind of savory…and kind of really good.
Hear me out. I know it may sound odd, but something about the savory onions and the sweet cider, together with the roasted squash and cheese is just so delicious.
And you guys? It really is the onions combined with the roasted squash that make this pizza so good. It’s all things savory, salty, and spicy, mixed with a touch of autumn sweetness.
Assemble and bake.
Push the dough out onto the baking sheet, add the onions, the cheese, the prosciutto, and all the roasted squash. Bake in the upper position of the oven (this is key), and in less than fifteen minutes you’ll have amazing pizza.
And your kitchen will smell incredible. The squash roasting away with the onions is such a warming and delicious scent.
As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven, slice, and eat. The onions are jammy, the cheese is warm and melty, the squash is spicy and roasted, and the prosciutto is salty and crisp. All together it’s beyond good…think roll your eyes back, go for that second (or third) slice, GOOD.
Most importantly, you’ll have a delicious pizza to enjoy for dinner, turning your average weeknight into something fun and special. That we can all look forward to!
Looking for other easy pizza recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Easy Sheet Pan Tomato Herb Pizza
Artichoke Pesto and Burrata Pizza with Lemony Arugula
Lastly, if you make this Roasted Butternut Squash Prosciutto Pizza with Caramelized Onions, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Roasted Butternut Squash Prosciutto Pizza with Caramelized Onions
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 450 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound pizza dough, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cups cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper use to your taste
- 2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup apple cider
- 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
- 1 cup shredded fontina cheese
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)
- 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn
Instructions
- 1. Position the oven rack in the upper 1/3 position. Preheat the oven to 425° F. If you have a baking stone, start preheating it. 2. Place the ball of pizza dough on a lightly oiled quarter sheet pan. Lightly drizzle olive oil on top of the dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest.3. On a baking sheet, toss together the olive oil, butternut squash, honey, sage, cinnamon, cayenne, and a pinch each of crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until the squash is just tender and remove from oven. Increase the heat to 500° F.4. Meanwhile, caramelize the onions. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook 3 minutes, until softened. Add half the apple cider, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking another 5 minutes, until the cider has mostly evaporated. Add the remaining cider and cook another 5 minutes or until the onions are golden and caramelized. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper, cook another minute. Remove from the heat.5. To assemble. Remove the plastic wrap. Gently press the dough until it covers the entire sheet pan. Drizzle the dough lightly with olive oil. Top with the onions, you may not need them all. Add the cheese, then the prosciutto. Arrange the butternut squash on top. 6. Slide into the preheated 500° F oven and bake for 10 minutes, rotate the pizza, and bake another 3-5 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese has melted. Top the pizza additional crushed red pepper flakes. ENJOY!
Notes
Quarter Sheet Pan: this is the exact USA Quarter Sheet Pan I use. You can use any sheet pan you have that’s of similar size, it does not need to be exact.
This pizza is delicious! We also added goat cheese and topped with balsamic glaze drizzle, but you really don’t need to add anything. The flavors are fantastic and meld perfectly for fall/winter!
Hey Cass,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it and sharing your review:)
We had impromptu group in for pizza and decided to try this recipe. It was the hit of the get together. The salt and savory recipe was so good! We found that the 500 degree temperature for 10 minutes, then 3 additional was a bit much, but we baked in on a pizza stone on the grill. We will definitely add it to our recipe box and make it again this fall.
Thanks!
Hey Rick,
Happy Sunday! 🎃 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it and sharing your feedback! xx
I made the squash and apple version last night from your cookbook and was blown away. My husband and I are still talking about it. Love all of your recipes!
Hey Mandy,
Happy Monday!! 👻 I am so glad this recipe was tasty for you, thanks a lot for trying it out! xT