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Learn how to make the most mouth-watering butternut squash pizza at home with this easy fall pizza recipe. This is truly one of my favorite pizzas I’ve ever made! Jam-packed with flavors like garlic oil, roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, and crispy sage, this is sure to become a family favorite!
When it comes to pizza recipes we like to think of pizza as a blank canvas. Whatever toppings you love, or whatever you have on hand, can become an amazing pizza. And when seasonal ingredients are abundant, like in the fall, turn them into a seasonal pizza!
Table of Contents
Ingredients + Substitutions
All portions are in the recipe card.
- Butternut Squash – Cut into small cubes for roasting. You can substitute with any fall or winter squash like pumpkin, acorn, or blue hubbard.
- Kosher Salt and Coarse Black Pepper – For seasoning the squash with some olive oil.
- Pizza Dough – If you don’t want to make homemade pizza dough you can use a store-bought version. For a 12-inch pizza, you want the dough to weigh between 260 – 300 grams. Yes, grams!
- Garlic Oil – We mix extra virgin olive oil with a clove of crushed garlic for a homemade oil versus using a pizza sauce. Believe me, that garlic oil will complement the squash and prosciutto so well!
- Prosciutto – You can also use any other cured salami for the added salty flavor but we like prosciutto the best. It gets nice and crispy when cooked on the pizza.
- Caramelized Onions – The added texture and sweetness from the onions is a great balance to the squash. We like using red onions versus yellow or white. But you can caramelize any onion that you like.
- Mozzarella Cheese – Any mild melty cheese is great, we prefer fresh mozzarella (packed in water) versus shredded low moisture.
Preparation
Before making the pizza, prepare the key ingredients so everything is ready before assembling. Much of this can even be done the day before if you want some advanced preparation.
- Cube up the butternut squash. We like to start with a sharp knife and cutting squash in half. Remove the seeds and pulp with a large spoon. Then remove the skin and discard or compost. Slice the squash into small cubes. You need about one cup, or a quarter of one squash, per pizza.
- Make garlic oil by placing 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Then use a garlic press or a knife to finely crush the garlic and place it in oil.
- Prepare your homemade dough. Be sure the dough is at room temperature before baking so it’s easy to turn into a pizza round. If the dough is too cold it won’t stretch.
Making The Butternut Squash Pizza
It may seem like a lot of steps, but it’s pretty simple. We just want to pre-roast the squash and then caramelize some onions before assembling the pizzas. This can all be done in advance.
Roast Butternut Squash
Pre-roasted butternut squash in smaller chunks helps with the tender texture on the pizza. If you just throw raw squash chunks on the pizza it won’t roast up enough while pizza is cooking. This is especially true if making Neapolitan or high-heat pizzas.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. We use the same temperature if we’re cooking inside in the oven or an outdoor pizza oven.
- In a large bowl place the pieces of butternut squash and then season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Place on a baking sheet and bake squash for 15 -20 minutes or until it’s tender and soft. There will be some slight browning.
- Remove from oven. You can use immediately or let cool and store in an airtight container prior to using on the pizza.
Caramelize Onions
Cut up one red onion into thin slices. In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat add butter and olive oil and add the onions. Stir occasionally until they are a dark color. Add a touch of kosher salt. This should take roughly 30 minutes for a small onion, you can follow our complete guide on how to caramelize onions.
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Assemble The Pizza
- Sprinkle flour on a large cutting board or wooden pizza peel. We recommend using either semolina or bread flour, but you can use all purpose flour too.
- Lay out the pizza dough and press the dough flat from the inside out to begin stretching it. As the dough continues to widen, pick it up and use your hands like you are driving a steering wheel to stretch it out to 12-inches.
- Transferred the pizza to a peel and then brush the base with garlic oil within 1″ of the rim, then layer with mozzarella cheese, roasted butternut squash cubes, caramelized onions, prosciutto, and sage.
Indoor Kitchen Oven Instructions
- Place a pizza stone in the center oven rack and preheat the oven to 550 degrees. When the oven reaches temperature, allow the stone to continue to warm for an additional 20 minutes before putting the pizza on it. This allows the entire stone to be really hot.
- Slide the pizza with your peel onto the preheated stone. Close the oven door and bake for 6 minutes. Then rotate the pizza 180 degrees and finish for an additional 6 minutes.
In an Outdoor Pizza Oven
We made this pizza in our Alfa Forni Moderno pizza oven.
- Prepare your pizza oven and get the pizza stone to 700 – 750 degrees Fahrenheit using propane or wood.
- Launch the pizza into the pizza oven using your pizza peel. Use the turning peel to rotate the pizza every 15 seconds or until you see the pizza crust brown. Continue to rotate the pizza until it’s cooked all the way through. It should take 90 seconds to 2 minutes to fully cook the pizza in a dedicated outdoor pizza oven.
- Remove and place on a cutting board, slice into wedges, and serve. Add drizzle-aged balsamic vinegar at this point, should you choose to add an extra indulgent flavor to this already amazing pie!
Optional Finishing Ideas
You can top the pizza with Maldon salt or try a finishing glaze like aged balsamic or even hot honey.
Recommended Tools
You can see all of our pizza tool recommendations or make sure you have the following:
- Pizza Stone or Pizza Oven
- IR Thermometer
- Pizza Peel and Pizza Turning Peel
Additional Squash Recipes
Since you’ll have more squash left over consider making our Smoked Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese or our Butternut Squash Soup.
More Pizza Recipe Inspirations
Product Reviews
Alfa Forni Moderno 2 Pizze Product Review
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Sourdough Pepperoni Pizza Recipe
Pizza Recipes
Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe
Food Recipes
Mortadella and Pistachio Pizza
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Butternut Squash Pizza with Prosciutto and Caramelized Onions
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Roasted Butternut Squash
- 1 cup butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Pizza Ingredients
- 1 pizza dough, (ideally 260 grams in weight)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, separated by hand into small chunks
- 1 cup roasted butternut squash cubes (from above)
- 3 slices prosciutto, roughly torn
- ½ cup caramelized onions
- 5-6 fresh sage leaves
Instructions
Roast Butternut Squash
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. We use the same temperature if we’re cooking inside in the oven or in an outdoor pizza oven.
- In a large bowl place the pieces of butternut squash and then season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine. Place on a baking sheet and bake squash for 15 -20 minutes or until it’s tender and soft. There will be some slight browning. Remove from oven and set aside for the pizza.
Caramelize Onions
- Cut up one small red onion into thin slices. In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat add butter and olive oil and add the onions. Stir occasionally until they are a dark color. Add a touch of kosher salt. This should take about 30 minutes.
Make Pizza (Pizza Oven Instructions – See notes for indoor kitchen oven)
- Prepare your pizza oven and get the pizza stone to 700 – 750 degrees Fahrenheit using propane or wood.
- Sprinkle flour on a large cutting board or wooden pizza peel. Roll out the pizza into a 12-inch round by hand. Do not use a rolling pin.Mix the olive oil and garlic together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Transfer the pizza to a peel and then brush the base with garlic oil within 1″ of the rim, then layer with mozzarella cheese, roasted butternut squash cubes, caramelized onions, prosciutto, and sage.
- Launch the pizza into the pizza oven using your pizza peel. Use the turning peel to rotate the pizza every 15 seconds or until you see the pizza crust brown. Continue to rotate the pizza until it’s cooked all the way through. It should take 90 seconds to 2 minutes to cook the pizza in an outdoor pizza oven.
- Remove and place on a cutting board and slice into wedges and serve. Add any finishing drizzle like Maldon salt, hot honey, or aged balsamic vinegar.
Notes
- Cube up the butternut squash. We like to start with a sharp knife and cutting squash in half. Remove the seeds and pulp with a large spoon. Then remove the skin and discard or compost. Slice the squash into small cubes. You need about one cup, or a quarter of one squash, per pizza.
- Make garlic oil by placing 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Then use a garlic press or a knife to finely crush the garlic and place it in oil.
- Prepare your homemade dough. Be sure the dough is at room temperature before baking so it’s easy to turn into a pizza round. If the dough is too cold it won’t stretch.
Indoor Oven Instructions:
- Place a pizza stone in the center oven rack and preheat the oven to 550 degrees. When the oven reaches temperature, allow the stone to continue to warm for an additional 20 minutes before cooking the pizza. This allows the entire stone to be hot.
- Slide the pizza with your peel onto the preheated stone. Close the oven door and bake for 6 minutes. Then rotate the pizza 180 degrees and finish for an additional 6 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This pizza has all the perfect flavors and textures. We love adding some aged balsamic as a drizzle at the end.