Roasted delicata squash pizza

Pizza. The Italian food that many identify with America. When I asked my international students their favorite American foods, many answered "pizza!" with enthusiasm. 

I can understand why they might say this, too. Think about how many places you can buy pizza now in Hancock County. It's available at several pizzerias, even more restaurants, frozen in every supermarket, and by the slice at most convenience stores. Counting all the different toppings and brands out there, there are hundreds of choices available to us.

But when I was a boy in Ellsworth, we were limited to just a few brands of frozen pizza and one pizzeria that I knew of, Roy's. Before either of my sisters, Jill and Karen, had a license to drive, if we wanted pizza when Mom and Dad weren't around, we usually made it from a boxed mix that came from the supermarket. At the time, it seemed like quite a treat, but now, with so many options, the thought of that boxed mix doesn't exactly make my mouth water. 

What does make my mouth water is making delicious meals using local ingredients, and one such ingredient available now at farmer's markets and supermarkets is delicata squash. This squash has skins so thin that you can eat them. Its full of flavor. "No, Grandma, there's no need to add that half stick of butter. Save it for winter squashes." In my opinion, the best way to cook delicata squash is to roast it. So, when I bought some recently, I knew that was what I'd do. 

What I didn't know when I bought it was that I'd later be inspired to make pizza with it. I didn't want to drive back to the store for more ingredients, so I opened the refrigerator to see what I could add to make this pizza sing. 

Delicata squash pizza with bacon and scallions.

The result: roasted delicata squash pizza with bacon and chopped scallions with creamy cottage cheese blend instead of sauce. The nuttiness of the squash goes very well with the smoky bacon, creamy cheese, and the sharp, bright taste of the scallions. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

Here's the recipe. 

1 pound of pizza dough

2 delicata squashes

oil for brushing

4 strips bacon

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. finely ground black pepper

3 scallions, sliced thinly, both the white and green

Make or buy 1 pound of pizza dough and have it at room temperature when you're ready to start making the pizza. There are good options for prepared dough at the supermarket, but if you want to make your own and don't have a recipe already, I like this recipe from Forno Bravo, a pizza oven maker. Italian "00" flour, the finest grind, was available at Rooster Brother and John Edwards in Ellsworth the last time I checked. 

Carefully cut the delicata squashes into slices 1/4-inch thick. There's no need to peel them. The thin skins are edible. Brush the slices with oil--I used olive oil--then put them on two baking sheets. Roast them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, turn them once with a spatula, then roast for 15 minutes more. Remove them from the oven and let them cool before removing the seeds from the middle of each slice, a step that is much easier to do after they've cooked than before. The seeds can taste quite bitter, and while they might make a good snack if roasted and seasoned separately, they do not belong on this pie.

While the squash is roasting, cook the bacon till it has just started to crisp up. If you cook it till it's completely crispy, it may burn on top of the pizza. After the bacon has cooled, chop it into small pieces. 

In a small bowl, mix the cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. I used cottage cheese because that's what I had on hand, but ricotta would work well. Any hard, sharp cheese would substitute well for the Parm, too, which was added to this mix because the cottage cheese (and ricotta) can be quite wet. If you already have shredded cheese on hand, like mozzarella, go ahead and use it instead of the cheese mixture. Smoked gouda would work quite well, also.

Move the oven racks to the middle and top of the oven and preheat it to 475 degrees.

On a floured board, roll half of the dough into a roughly oval shape and lay it on one baking sheet. Do the same with the other half of the dough. I used the same sheets already used for roasting the squash. As they were already oiled, there was no need to put anything else on them, but if you use clean baking sheets, oil them or sprinkle on some cornmeal. You also could cook these on a pizza stone if you have one. Follow the directions for using that stone, which may require a longer preheat, higher temperature, and shorter cooking time. 

Spread half of the cheese mixture over each crust, then arrange the squash slices on top. There may be some leftover roasted squash. Yay! Sprinkle the chopped bacon on the pizzas. There should never be leftover bacon. Finish by sprinkling the chopped scallions on top all of that. Bake the pizzas for 8 to 10 minutes, one on the top rack, one in the middle, switching them after they've cooked about 5 minutes.

After they've finished baking, let them cool for a few minutes before slicing them. Buon appetito!