Roasted Delicata Squash Pizza with Burrata & Spinach
Sophisticated and decadent, this roasted delicata squash pizza is both cozy and elegant. Roasted squash, nutty hazelnuts, ultra-creamy burrata, and rich caramelized onions are rustic and comforting. Make the pizza dough and toppings ahead of time then assemble and bake when ready.
Among the millions of pizza recipes out there, it’s refreshing to have something a bit more special and unique to bake up at home.
I love winter squash. I use it to make creamy soups and even waffles. Of all the winter squash varieties, delicata is one of my all time favorites, if nothing else, than for its simplicity. As the name implies, the tender skin is well, delicate, only slightly tougher than a summer squash, and does not need to be peeled before eating. That’s right, edible skin!
This recipe is a bit more time-intensive than your average easy weeknight recipe, but one that is perfect for slow weekend cooking when you can leisurely prepare each element over the course of the day. You can also prepare them all in advance then bake when you’re ready. See the section below on how to make the pizza crust in advance.
Delicata Squash Pizza Recipe Snapshot
- Taste: Similar to my Mediterranean vegetables and polenta recipe, every bite reveals a new and exciting flavor, like uncovering hidden gems.
- Texture: Chewy crust, toothsome roasted squash, crunchy hazelnuts, and crisp fresh spinach cover every single texture base.
- Ease: Like this homemade egg noodle soup, this is more of an intermediate to advanced recipe. If you’d like to make it easier you can use store-bought pizza crust.
- Time: Plan for a few hours with this one, although a lot of that time is hands-off. The pizza dough is going to take at least 2 hours of rising time until it is ready to bake.
Gosh, I love a good cooking project. Some of my favorite ones involve yeast and bread baking like my focaccia recipe with rosemary and fennel and my no-knead olive loaf.
For today’s recipe we are making homemade pizza dough. This is great recipe to start with if you’re new to baking with yeast. See the step-by-step instructions below.
Ingredients For Delicata Squash Pizza:
There are quite a few ingredients for this recipe but none of them are hard to find.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Active dry yeast: Not instant yeast. You’ll need one packet.
- Granulated sugar: Just a touch of sugar in the dough helps feed the yeast and get it going.
- Bread flour: This type of flour has more gluten than all purpose flour meaning it will produce a chewier, stretchy dough. All purpose will work in a pinch.
- Cornmeal: Adds a tiny bit of crunch to the dough, plus you’ll use more to help slide the pizza in the oven. Use any leftover cornmeal to make cheddar rosemary cornbread.
- Olive oil: For adding elasticity and flavor to the dough, plus more for making the toppings.
- Kosher salt: I always use Morton Kosher Salt unless otherwise specified.
- Delicata squash: I love the earthy sweetness of delicata squash. It is available in most grocery stores and at the farmers market in the fall.
- Yellow onion: Red onion would also be good.
- Hazelnuts: I love hazelnuts! I use them to make cookies all the time. They add a pleasant crunch and nuttiness to this pizza too.
- Garlic: Gets sautéed with the hazelnuts for a delicious topping.
- Smoked paprika: Just like with our bbq turkey spice rub, pork burger, and goulash soup, smoked paprika adds a touch of smokiness to the fried hazelnuts.
- Red pepper flakes: A pinch for pleasant heat.
- Baby spinach: Goes on top after the pizza comes out of the oven.
- Burrata cheese: Gloriously creamy and decadent, Burrata usually comes in 8 ounce packages. You’ll only need 4 ounces for this recipe. You can use the other half to make tomato basil salad or on top of tomato basil olive bruschetta.
- Parmesan cheese: Shaved over the top right before serving.
- Black pepper: For seasoning the toppings.
How To Make Homemade Pizza Dough
Start by making the pizza dough. Instead of proofing the yeast in warm liquid we are going to mix all the dough ingredients together at once. This insulates the yeast and prevents it from being killed-off by water that is too hot. The only downside to this method is it takes a bit longer for the yeast to work, so give yourself some extra time to let the dough rise.
Combine everything in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Start on low until it starts to form a dough then increase the speed to medium until it completely comes together.
The dough should be on the sticky side and pull away from the bowl but not so much that you can see the bottom of the mixing bowl. If the dough is too dry, add more water 1/4 cup at a time. If it is too wet, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. It is better to have a dough that is too wet than too dry. It will rise better and you can always add more flour when rolling out the pizza dough.
Once the dough is the perfect consistency, continue kneading on medium speed for 8 minutes to build up the glutens and make a stretchy dough.
Transfer dough to an oiled bowl, cover in plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
If you don’t want to make your own pizza dough use store-bough dough or prebaked pizza crust.
Now For The Toppings
While you wait for the dough to rise, start by roasting the delicata squash. Cut into thick slices, remove the seeds and lay them on a baking sheet, brush both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 425°F until fork tender and golden brown.
For the caramelized onions, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and let cook until very dark golden and soft. Stir frequently to prevent from burning.
Lastly we’ll fry the chopped hazelnuts in oil with garlic and smoked paprika until they are toasted and crunchy.
Get the burrata and parmesan out of the fridge so they can come to room temperature before going in the oven.
Time To Bake!
It is very hard to get stellar pizza in your home oven, but I think a pizza stone is a wise investment that will give you as close to a blistered, chewy crust as you are going to get without a wood-fired oven. If you don’t have one, you can also use a round pizza pan or a baking sheet greased with olive oil and sprinkled with cornmeal.
Place the pizza stone in your oven and let it heat up while your oven heats. Turn your oven to 500°F or as high as it will go. Let it heat for at least 30-45 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface press the dough into a round disk. Using your hands push and pull the dough into a round or oval shape (or I like a rectangle ☺️) about 1/2-inch thick (or thinner if you want really crispy crust). Use as much flour as you need to to prevent sticking.
Generously sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal. Lay the pizza dough on the peel and top with the caramelized onions, squash and hazelnuts. Break the burrata apart with your hands and dot the top of the pizza with pieces of cheese.
With quick jerks, slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and crust is crisp. Slide the pizza peel under the crust and remove from the oven. Place on a cutting board.
Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the spinach and season it with salt and pepper. Toss gently then lay on top of the hot pizza.
Shave the parmesan into thin slices with a vegetable peeler over the top. Cut into slices and serve.
Make-Ahead Pizza Dough
Instead of letting the dough rise on the counter you can make it a day in advance and let it slow rise in the refrigerator. I actually find the dough to be more flavorful with the slow rise.
The next day, remove the dough from the fridge at least an hour (and up to 3 hours) before baking.
You can refrigerate the dough for longer than overnight as well. I’ve even used dough that has been in my refrigerator for 4 days with good results.
Make Pizza Night Complete
Here’s a few sides to serve with your pizza:
- Tomato Basil Salad
- Beet Salad with Cracked Olives
- Simple Blanched Broccoli with Garlic
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
- Broccolini with Caramelized Red Onion
Roasted Delicata Squash Pizza with Burrata & Spinach
Ingredients
For the pizza dough:
- 2 cups bread flour, plus extra for stretching dough
- 1 cup warm water, about 110°F
- 1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for dusting the pizza peel
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast, (2 1/4 teaspoons)
For the toppings:
- 1 medium delicata squash, cut into 1/4-inch thick rings, seeds removed
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided plus more for drizzling
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, coarsley chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- red chile flakes, to taste
- 4 ounces Burrata cheese
- 2 1/2 ounces baby spinach, about 2 cups
- Shaved Parmesan, optional
Instructions
For the pizza dough:
- Combine the 2 cups bread flour, 1 cup warm water, 1/4 cup cornmeal, 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1/2 tablespoon sugar and the packet of yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Start mixing on low speed until the dough comes together.
- The dough should be soft and slightly sticky but still come off the sides of the bowl when it is being mixed. If the dough is too dry, add 1/4 cup of warm water and if it is too wet, add flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it is the right consistency. It is better for the dough to be too wet than too dry. It will rise better and you can always add more flour when you are shaping the dough.
- Once it is the right consistency, knead on medium speed until dough is smooth and springs back to the touch, about 8 minutes more. Transfer to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place and let rise until it is doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
For the toppings:
- Heat oven to 425°F. Brush both sides of squash rings with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast until knife tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until brown and caramelized.
- Heat remaining 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a separate medium frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the 1/4 cup hazelnuts, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika and cook, stirring occasionally until hazelnuts are toasted and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
For the pizza:
- Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and remove the top rack. Heat oven to 500°F. Let stone heat up for at least 30 minutes before beginning.
- On a lightly floured surface, stretch dough gently with your hands until it forms a 1/2-1/4-inch thick circle or oval (or I like a rectangle) ☺️. If the dough keeps shrinking back as you try to stretch it, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly for 5-10 minutes, then try again.
- Dust a pizza peel or the back side of a baking sheet with cornmeal. Transfer dough to pizza peel, brush with olive oil and top with the onions, squash, hazelnut mixture and some red chile flakes if you'd like. (You may have some toppings leftover). Break the 4 ounces of Burrata apart with your hands and dot the top with the cheese. If you don’t have a pizza stone, bake on a regular sheet pan or pizza pan. Grease it with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal, and then press the dough into whatever shape that will fit.
- Slide pizza onto hot stone and bake until blistered and crust is crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. While pizza is baking, toss the 2 1/2 ounces of spinach with a little drizzle of oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Remove pizza from oven and slide onto a cutting board. Top with the spinach a drizzling of olive oil, and shavings of Parmesan. Cut into slices and serve.
Notes
- Size: Dough makes a 12 to 14-inch pizza. Double the dough to make more than one pizza or divide the dough and make 2-3 smaller pizzas.
- Equipment: To make this recipe you will need a 16-inch pizza peel and pizza stone. If you don’t have those things you can also bake the pizza on a baking sheet. Make sure you grease it well with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
- Make ahead: You can mix the dough up to 4 days in advance and let it rise in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature at least 1 hour before starting. You can also make all the separate toppings up to 4 days in advance and keep covered in the refrigerator.
- Work quickly: Once the dough goes on the pizza peel, work quickly to top it otherwise it will stick and won’t slide off into the oven.
