We haven’t made an infused pizza crust in a while (way too long, as it were), so when we bought a pumpkin and found ourselves trying to figure out what to do with the last quarter, this became a natural choice! The pumpkin gave the crust a subtle squashy hint and upped the nutritional value as well. We used a white pumpkin, so it’s also not terribly detectable via the eye test (making it even easier to hide). That said, we want to try making this again with a more traditionally orange pumpkin to alter the colour of the crust a bit (like what happened with our Roasted Red Pepper Pizza Crust and Kale Pizza Crust) for dramatic effect.
We used this crust as the base layer for our Harvest Pizza, but it would also pair well with other toppings choices like Bacon Mushroom Gruyere Pizza, Black Trumpet and Shallot Flatbread with Truffled Goat Cheese, Brussels Sprout and Gouda Pizza, or Pumpkin Pizza with Mustard Pomegranate Sauce.
Time: 2 Hours
Ingredients (makes 3 personal sized pizza crusts):
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Yeast (we used instant)
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Pureed Pumpkin
- Use canned or:
- 1/8 Fresh Medium Pumpkin, Broken Down into Chunks with Skin Removed.
Method:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- As your water heats, Break Down Your Pumpkin, remove the skin from your slices, and cut the slices into chunks.
- Carefully, place your pumpkin into the water, and boil for 15-20 minutes until it’s soft and easy to pierce with fork.
- Drain the water, and puree your pumpkin with a food processor/blender/Ninja. Then, pour that puree into a measuring cup to make sure you have the right amount. Keep extra aside to make a pizza sauce!
- Add your flour, yeast, salt, and sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer. Then, pour in your pureed pumpkin, and use your dough hook to mix and knead.
- Quickly spray the bottom and sides of a mixing bowl with some oil, and when your dough is ready (tacky, but not horrifically sticky), form it into a ball, and put it in the bowl. Cover with plastic cling wrap, and set aside for an hour to rise.
- When the rise is done, put your pizza stone or pan into the oven, and preheat your to 425 degrees F
- Place some parchment paper on your counter, and roll your pizza dough (may need to add a little flour under it and to the top) with a rolling pin on your parchment. Since we made 3 pizzas, we cut our dough into thirds and did this step three times.
- Remove your pizza stone from the oven, transfer your parchment paper onto it, and bake for about 5-10 minutes.
- Pull the dough/crust out of the oven, apply your toppings, and bake until crispy and ready!
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
