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Happy first day of October!!
I think it is safe to say that I am pretty into fall. Lucky for us, for every season there are multiple pizzas to accompany it. Pizza is just that kind of food, an all the time, every season, kind of meal. It’s adaptable, and can be topped in more ways than I can count.
Plus, pizza cures all. Like when your mother tells you that she thinks it would be best if she worked as the General Contractor on your new home. Meaning – my mom is now overseeing everything that is going on down at the barn…
Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you guys this?
It’s probably because it freaks the heck out of me and I just do not want to admit it yet. To you, to me, to anyone.
Well, it is true, my amazing, and apparently super multi talented, mother became the general contractor a few weeks ago. At first I pretty much freaked because I mean, she knows not a thing about how to do a remodel like this or how to build a thing. But now I am ok with it. She works way harder than anyone (especially our previous contractor), so I have to trust that she’ll get it done on time. Although, I did just hear that something got pushed back a week.
Oh no. I need more pizza. This barn is going to drive me insane. Who would have thought that remodeling a small barn to be a home would be such a process. Not me. The whole Thanksgiving deadline that is pretty important that we meet? Yeah, well that has now become the first week of December and to be totally honest that will SO be pushing it. Send help. No literally, if you know good workers please send them because they seem to be a little hard to come by up in my mountain town. I think everybody is just too excited about the snow or something.
Anyway, my point is that pizza makes all the stress better. Especially when it’s a fall pizza. I think fall pizzas may just be my favorite. Actually, butternut squash is my favorite and I think that you will quickly realize this over the coming weeks. So many squash recipes flying through my head.
This pizza is all things fall, but not in an overpowering way, where you are like, “eew, this just tastes like a fall candle… and not a good one”. I have actually had that response once, not fun.
Over the years, I have made a lot of fall inspired pizzas and they all seem to have a sweet and spicy theme to them. I’m pretty sure it is because my family loves spicy… and I love the combos of sweet and spicy… plus heavy on the cheesy!
That is this Butternut Squash Pizza. It’s got a spicy oil based sauce, savory cider caramelized onions, super thin slices of apple for sweetness, tons of sharp cheddar, blue cheese, roasted butternut and bacon (of course feel free to lose the bacon and keep this a vegetarian pizza if needed) to tie it all together. What could you not like about these flavors? So flippin delicious.
Really though, look at all that gooey, melty cheese.
Maybe it is the cheese that cures all actually? Not sure, but whatever, it’s good stuff. And on a Wednesday when you just need a way to get over that hump!
Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Fall Harvest Pizza w/Roasted Butternut, Cider Caramelized Onions + Bacon.
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 1113 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Toppings
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 4 cups cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon chili powder divided
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 slices thick cut bacon chopped
- 2 sweet onions sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 in large chipotle chile adobo minced
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 small apple thinly sliced
- 6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2-4 ounces blue cheese crumbled
- 1 large bunch fresh sage
- roasted pumpkin seeds for topping
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- In a large bowl, combine water, yeast and honey. Mix with a spoon, then let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add in 1 cup flour, salt and olive oil stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but is still sticky. Using your hands, on a floured surface, form the dough into a ball and work the additional 1/2 cup flour into the dough if needed. All of the mixing and kneading can also be done in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Next, rub the same bowl with olive oil, then place the dough inside, turning to coat. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
To assemble
- About 40 minutes before the dough is done rising, start assembling the pizza. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.*
- In a small bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, cinnamon, honey and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Spread the veggies out in a single layer on one or two baking sheets. Drizzle the olive oil mixture over the veggies and toss well to coat. Roast until vegetables are tender, 20 to 25 minutes, stirring the veggies halfway through. Remove and set aside.
- While the veggies roast, caramelize the onions. Heat a large skillet with high sides over medium-high heat and cook bacon until crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Remove all but one tablespoon of bacon fat from the pan and then add the butter. Add the onions and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened. At this point you want to slowly add the cider, let it cook into the onions, add more and let it cook some more. Do this until the 1 cup of cider is gone or the onions are caramelized to your liking and the cider has evaporated.
- In a bowl whisk together the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil, chipotle chile pepper in adobo, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, cumin and a good pinch of salt + pepper.
- Once the pizza dough is ready, lightly flour a counter. Use your hands or a rolling pin to roll the dough out until you have a flattened disk. Place the pizzas on a greased baking sheet and then use your hands to gently tug, pull and push the pizza dough into your desired shape. Spread the chipotle olive oil mixture over the dough. Add the caramelized onions and half the roasted butternut squash. You may not want to use all onions if you feel like there is just too many. I used probably about 3/4 of the onions. Add the cheddar cheese and then the sliced apples and remaining butternut. Sprinkle with the blue cheese.
- Bake the pizza for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and gooey. Remove from the oven and top with crispy sage (below) and roasted pumpkin seeds. EAT while melty and delicious!
Sage
- Heat a small skillet over medium heat and add about 1/2 inch of olive oil. Once hot, add the sage leaves and cook 30 seconds per side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Serve over the pizza.
Notes
*Double this dough recipe to make two pizzas, there is enough toppings for two smaller, thicker crust pizzas if desired. **Feel free to cook this pizza which ever way you please. Sometimes I use a baking stone and cook the pizza at 500 degrees F. for about 15 minutes. Or sometimes I use a cast iron skillet like I did [here | https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/green-olive-pesto-pizza-with-roasted-red-peppers-and-feta-stuffed-crust/].
Leaning tower of cheesy pizza awesomeness right there. Dig in.
Hi- I’ve read the comments about the ti,e it takes to do this recipe. Can I roast the squash earlier in the day to get ahead?
Hi Kate,
Totally, that will work well for you! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xx
Is there a good substitution you’d recommend for those who do not care for blue cheese? Goat cheese maybe?
Hey Stephanie,
Sure, goat cheese would be delicious! Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love it! xT
This was delicious! I didn’t have cheddar or chipotles in adobo, so I just sprinkled on a little cotija and used chipotle powder instead. Oh, and I used pre-made flatbreads. Worked great!
Hey! Thank you so much for trying out this recipe, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Monday ? xTieghan
This was hands down the best pizza I’ve ever made and ate. The chemistry of all the flavors is spot on, and the blue cheese really brings it all together. I followed the pesto pizza recipe step to make it in the cast iron skillet. Wow! Who knew you could make a pizza in two minutes?! My husband and I made it together for an ‘at home date night’ — it was a lot of fun!
Also the ingredients for the dough calls for 1/4 tsp of salt but never says when to add that to the dough. I’m putting in a lot of work to ruin this recipe. LOL
Hey Amanda, I’m not sure what the issue is? The salt is listed?
Hi.
HEADS UP if you plan on trying this one.
For the dough it’s 1 cup flour plus additional 1/2 cup, if needed.
Not 1 1/2 cups
Dough ingredients call for 1 1/2 cup of flour.
Recipe states “ Add in the flour and olive oil stirring with a spoon until the dough comes together but is still sticky.” Implying 1 1/2 cups of flour will be added at this time. This is not the case.
If you’re reading this review DO NOT “add in the flour”. Only add 1 cup of flour at this time! The other 1/2 is added IF NEEDED! Which it wasn’t needed but I “added in the flour” like it says to. The recipe does not say that until after you add in the flour.
The recipe says to “add in the flour” but then later it says “to work the additional 1/2 cup flour in if needed.” I added most of the 1-2/2 cup all at once (I usually save some to add in as needed) but the dough is really dry. I’m thnking maybe it’s supposed to read “add in 1 cup of the flour” in the beginning part so it’s only 1-1/2 cups total if needed, right? I love HBH’s recipes so hopefully the crust still turns out okay.
Hey Patricia,
Sorry for the confusion, let me know how it turns out! xTieghan
I’m so excited to eat this creation! When do I add the bacon?
Hey Lisa,
You can add the bacon to the pizza with the onions. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
If I want to make the dough ahead of time, once I let it rise for 1.5 hours, can I put it in the fridge until I’m ready to use it later that day?
Hey Michelle,
Yes, that will be fine to do. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just made this. It was fantastic. Omitted the pumpkin seeds and sage because I didn’t have them, used store bought dough and went easy on the chipotle for my girlfriends sake. Seriously my new favorite pizza to make, the flavors were perfect together. I can’t wait to try it with everything next time and to check out your other recipes.
I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Great recipe! The flavors all blended perfectly. I did use a different whole wheat crust recipe and only baked it for 12 minutes. I also reduced the amount of olive oil in the chipotle mixture, and only fried the sage leaves in a small amount of oil. Otherwise followed the recipe and it turned out wonderfully! It was definitely labor intensive but would make again!
Amazing! I am really glad this turned out so well for you, Stephanie! Thank you! xTieghan
Incredible. Drop everything and make this now.
Haha yes! Thank you Nicole! xTieghan
instead of your listed prep time it should say “plan on spending the entire afternoon preparing dinner”
Hi! I am sorry if that was your experience with this recipe. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help! xTieghan
How are the servings calculated—4 slices, 2 pizzas each divided in half, etc.?
Hey Kendall! A serving is about 2 slices. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I made this for mine and my husbands date night. It is amazing. I found this way later then everyone but it’s so yummy .thank you
Thank you! I am so glad you loved this Richard! xTieghan