Sweet Potato Pizza--2 ways--Thanksgiving Leftover Remake (Pizza Night!)

Sometimes the veggies you get from the farm share aren't . . . perfect looking.  Sometimes they are knobby, misshapen, tiny, weird (carrot pants!).  And that's ok.  They still taste fine.  I'd had an idea to try sweet potato fries with our meal, but these were the remaining sweet potatoes I'd gotten from the farm share.  Not really idea for cutting into fairly uniform slices so they'd bake evenly.  Instead, I cubed them up, added oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes.  Faster than I was expecting.

Then I went to pick up my farm share and got another batch of sweet potatoes.  These were fat and sassy and perfect for the fries I wanted to make.  So I had leftover roasted sweet potato cubes, and you know what that means:  PIZZA!

This is version 1.

I was inspired by the sweet potato and feta combination I saw here, but also dithering about feta vs goat cheese, what type of sauce, additional vegetables, yada yada.  So I opted to make 2 pizzas, like I did with the fresh pear and goat cheese combo.  But the sweet potato pizzas were similar enough, and not OMG FREAKING AMAZING like the tomato pesto pizza I'd made the week before (yes, the post will come up, but tomatoes are not seasonal to me now so it just feels wrong to titillate you when you may not be able to access fresh delicious tomatoes.  You'll thank me.  Maybe?).

So I've decided to post them both, and to invite you dear readers to try this at home, with your leftover Thanksgiving sweet potatoes, and see if you can come up with something with a little more oomph than my pizzas had.  Because while these pizzas were fine, and the entire family ate them, they needed some sisu.  Some chutzpah.  A certain je ne sais quoi.  Something was missing.  My spouse says bacon.  It's his answer to everything.  Unfortunately I used the last of the bacon in a Chicken Cider Stew and he'll have to wait until I remember to thaw and bake some.

That said, on to the pizzas.  **But please check out the update at the end!  There's hope!**

At the time of this photo I was still dithering.  Ignore the spice, the mozzarella, and the Alfredo sauce.

Version 1:  Roasted Sweet potato, Onion, Goat cheese Pizza with Roasted Garlic-Ricotta Sauce

1 clove roasted garlic
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 Tablespoon tomato sauce (because I had it left over from the kiddie pizza)
1 pound pizza dough (check out my Pizza Primer here)
1 cup cubed roasted sweet potato
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
2 ounces herbed goat cheese
French thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a small bowl, mash the garlic and mix it into the ricotta cheese, with a bit of leftover tomato sauce if you've got it.  On an oiled piece of parchment, stretch out your dough into a roughly circular shape. Spread the ricotta sauce across the dough to the edges.  Top with cubes of roasted potato, slices of onion, and bits of goat cheese.  Sprinkle thyme across the top.  Bake for 5-8 minutes on a baking stone or cookie sheet.  Shake the crust off the parchment, and continue baking another 3-5 minutes.  The goat cheese didn't really get bubbly, but there were a bit of browned spots that let me know it was done.  After it came out I sprinkled it with kosher salt and several grinds of pepper.  Cool on a wire rack then slice and serve.

Good grief, pay no attention to the specifics of the cheese and sauce. I was dithering.

Version 2:  Roasted Sweet Potato, Feta, Artichoke Pizza with Fresh Sage/Alfredo Sauce

1 pound pizza dough (check out my Pizza Primer here)
1/4 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1 cup cubed roasted sweet potato
1/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
3 large fresh sage leaves, sliced into ribbons
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  On an oiled piece of parchment, stretch out the dough into a circular shape.  Spread the Alfredo sauce across the dough to the edges.  Top with cubes of roasted sweet potato, bits of artichokes, ribbons of sage leaves, and feta.  Sprinkle fontina over the whole pie. Bake for 5-8 minutes on a baking stone or cookie sheet.  Shake the crust off the parchment, and continue baking another 3-5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with kosher salt and several grinds of pepper.  Cool on a wire rack then slice and serve.

**Update! (Can I update a post before I actually publish it? Well, I did).  I snipped up some dried cherries all over the pizzas before I reheated them in the oven, for a leftover lunch.  Version 1 (goat cheese, onion, sweet potato and now with cherries!) was delicious.  Version 2 still needs work.

What would you top your roasted sweet potato pizza with? Maybe crushed red pepper flakes? Fire roasted tomato sauce?  I need ideas.  I appreciate any and all you've got!

The kiddie pizza-tomato pesto sauce, mozzarella, and half pepperoni.

This post is linked up with What's In The Box at In Her Chucks and Food on Friday.