Butternut Squash Pizza

Puff pastry pizza bites topped with butternut squash ribbons nestled in a ricotta cheese base.

One thing nice about butternut squash is that even when your summer harvest is over, you can have sweet butternut squash throughout the winter. I picked the last of my butternuts in October and stored them in a cool, dark place. So now I can make a winter dish of roasted butternut squash, soup, stir fry, or buttery mash.

My Butternut Squash Pizza is a tasty comfort food for your holiday snack. It’s also meatless if you have non-meat eaters. And instead of a heavy layer of mozzarella, I used ricotta, which is mild and doesn’t fight with the flavor of the thin ribbons of butternut.

My home grown butternuts are really sweet, so my pizza didn’t really need much honey drizzled on it. But I know store bought butternuts are sometimes not as sweet or even full of flavor, so you might go a little heavy on the honey drizzle.

These pizza bites are light and a nice change from regular pizzas, and they go well with a charcuterie platter, offering a nice balance of sweet with salty. And if you love butternuts, add more ribbons…like I always say, certain recipes are very forgiving when playing with ingredients, and this is one of them. 

Not a fan of puff pastry? You can go traditional and  use regular pizza dough or a crostini…be bold!

Makes a dozen pieces

• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
• 1 Butternut squash
• Half of a fresh orange for zest and juice
• 2 tsp. honey plus 1 T honey, divided
• ¼ tsp salt
• Dash of pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• About 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
• Parsley for garnishing

Shave the neck end of the butternut squash into thin ribbons using a mandolin. You should have about 3 loose cups. Place in a bowl. Toss with the zest and juice of half an orange, 2 teaspoons of honey, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Drizzle of olive oil, salt, and olive oil. Lay ribbons separated on parchment lined cookie sheet to avoid sticking and roast at 400 degrees for 5 minutes to soften them.

Roll puff pastry so it’s 12 inches long. Using a knife, score a quarter inch border around the edges, but not cutting through the dough. Spread the ricotta on the pastry. Lay the ribbons of butternut, twisting and folding here and there to give it some height. Brush the ribbons with a little olive oil.  Sprinkle with a dash of salt and drizzle with the one tablespoon of honey. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry is golden. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.