Butternut squash is a big deal in South Africa. It could safely be called our national vegetable. At home, my family eats some kind of butternut squash about two or three times a week. This isn’t even counting “Take–away Tuesdays” when we get take-aways (you guys call it take-out) from one of our favorite neighborhood pizzerias, all of which have their own take on butternut pizza.
Pizza can be hard to make in a crappy dorm kitchen (cough, cough, Westco’s . . . the oven door handle fell off in my hand when I tried to bake a cake there last year), but I promise it’s worth the effort. And there’s no shame in using pre-made pizza dough from Weshop.
Transfer crust to a lightly greased cookie tray dusted with cornmeal (don’t sweat if you don’t have any, you can use flour). Spread with tomato paste and your delicious toppings and bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let pizza cool for five minutes before serving.
Toppingz
Three variations for three different butternut pizzas:
1) “The Butternutter” (my personal favorite) requires:
*1-2 onions
* Garlic (your call how much)
*1/2 a butternut squash
* Grated mozzarella cheese (again, you decide the quantity)
* Some kind of sweet chili sauce (essential!!)
Prep: Cut the butternut squash in half and cut off the skin and get rid of the seeds. Cut one of the halves into half-inch cubes and use the other half for something else. Toss with some olive oil and oregano and bake on a cookie tray in a 350°F oven for 30 min (I’m making up this number—cook for however long it takes for them to cook all the way through and get a lil’ mushy). You can definitely do this ahead of time.
Chop the onions and caramelize in a pan with the chopped garlic.
Swoosh the onions and cheese across your pizza base, then dot with the butternut cubes (you can cut them smaller if you like).
After your pizza comes out of the oven, drizzle with sweet chili sauce and NOM.
2) The next variation comes from this amazing organic vegetarian take-out place in Cape Town. For this, you need all the ingredients for the Butternutter above except the sweet chilli sauce. Add:
*A handful of spinach
*Some ricotta cheese
*A tomato or two, sliced
Prep: Do the same thang with the butternut, onions and mozzarella cheese as for the Butternutter. Dot some ricotta around and arrange the sliced tomatoes on top so it’s all pretty. About halfway through baking, sprinkle the spinach on top so it doesn’t get too wilted.
3) This last one, I proudly invented at about age ten.
Again, you need all the Butternutter ingredients minus the sweet chili sauce and onions. Plus:
*Parmesan cheese (not pre-grated cuz you’re gonna be classy and shave it. Ooh!)
*Some basil pesto.
Prep: Swoosh the pesto on first, then add the butternut and mozzarella cheese. Bake it and just before you serve, get classy: sprinkle Parmesan shavings all over the top.
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