Ricotta Butternut Squash Pizza with Spinach

12.19.17

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Ricotta Butternut Squash Pizza with Spinach | Naturally Ella

If you've caught on by now, you might have noticed that many of my components I share also happen to work well with pizza. Olive tapenade, garlicky greens, and romesco are a few of my favorites. And obviously this, roasted butternut squash (with this pizza!) This pizza is a version that finds itself in rotation during the cooler months. I typically don't use ricotta but I've been finding I have leftover ricotta stashed in the refrigerator more often than not. Best of all, I give a vegan riff below (and I barely miss the cheese!)

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Ricotta Butternut Squash Pizza with Spinach

4 servings

A delicious and beautiful fall/winter pizza featuring a roasted butternut squash component along with whipped ricotta, spinach, and mozzarella cheese.

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 35

Calories: 471kcal

Pizza Base

1 cup whole milk ricotta
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 sprigs of thyme (stems removed)
1 homemade or store-bought pizza dough (see note)

Toppings

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups roasted butternut squash component
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 small red onion (thinly sliced)
6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan (for topping)
Chili flakes (for serving)

Preheat oven to 500˚F. If using a pizza stone, place on the highest rack. Prepare the pizza topping. Whip the ricotta with the milk, salt, pepper, and thyme.
In a good non-stick surface (like a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal), stretch and roll the dough into a circle roughly 12 to 14” in size. Rub the olive oil over the crust then spread the ricotta over most of the dough. Top with the fresh spinach, onion slices, and roasted butternut squash. Finish with the mozzarella cheese and bake until the crust is golden and cheese browning, 12 to 15 minutes (time depends on how well your oven holds heat- start checking after about 8 minutes).
Remove pizza from oven and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes if desired.

Notes

Tips & Tricks: I always keep a stash of pizza dough balls in the freezer. As long as I remember to thaw them, pizza is a quick dinner option (especially if you make the butternut squash component ahead of time!)

Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: Butternut Squash, Spinach, Pizza Dough

Nutrition: see the information.

Nutrition

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time :20

Butternut Squash Pizza

variations

The beautiful thing about this butternut squash pizza is that you can swap many of the ingredients and still have a delicious pizza. A few of my favorites:

Greens: Swap out the spinach for whatever types of greens of might have on hand: kale, chard, or collards would all work. I do recommend wilting the heartier grains before topping the pizza.

Garlic Oil: Swap out the ricotta for a bit of olive oil and garlic. This helps lightened the pizza a bit.

Vegan: This pizza is bulky enough that you could easily make it vegan. Swap the dairy ricotta for your favorite vegan ricotta (either tofu or a homemade almond ricotta). From there, you can use vegan cheese or leave it off- the almond ricotta and the vegetables are enough!

Explore Butternut Squash

Between the months of September and April, there is always at least one butternut squash in my pantry. With a stocked pantry, that squash can turn into so many different meals like this butternut squash pasta, soup, casseroles, or salads. It is a workhorse for winter cooking.

Butternut Squash Toast with Pistachios and Sage
One Pot Rice and Curried Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash Salad with Hemp Dressing

Ricotta Butternut Squash Pizza with Spinach | Naturally Ella

5 from 5 votes (5 ratings without comment)

4 comments on “Ricotta Butternut Squash Pizza with Spinach”

joseph raffael says:

12.20.17 at 4:58 am

i am vegan
you talk about making it vegan and your talk about the ricotta but not how to relpave the parmesan and mozzarella
thanks

Reply
1. Erin Alderson says:
  
  12.20.17 at 7:31 am
  
  Updated- I usually leave the cheese off because the vegan ricotta and the vegetables are enough but you could always use vegan cheese if needed.
  
  Reply
Nicole says:

01.12.18 at 8:00 pm

Is the 471 calorie indication referring to the entire pizza, or simply a slice? Thank you!

Reply
1. Erin Alderson says:
  
  01.13.18 at 12:51 pm
  
  For 1/4 of the pizza (so probably 2 slices, depending on how big/small you cut it!)
  
  Reply

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