Pumpkin and Black Bean Pizza on Roasted Pumpkin Dough

A hearty vegetarian pizza with pumpkin, black bean, and maple topping on a roasted pumpkin dough

Once you've shredded butternut squash and made pizza dough out of it, or roasted sweet potato and made pizza dough out of it, or steamed spinach and  made a pizza dough out of it, pumpkin pizza dough is not much of a stretch.

Roasted beet pizza dough?  A stretch.  A vibrantly-colored-yet-amazingly-found-in-nature stretch.  And a tasty one, to boot.  Where was I?  Right, roasted pumpkin in a pizza dough.

With this non-stretch of a pizza dough, I wanted to go a bit wild with a meatless topping.  I'd read Aimée's account of tapping her maple trees and making syrup (I love the photo of her daughter 'nursing' on the tree) so I was primed to include maple syrup in the mix.  The black beans and pumpkin flowed from there.  This is a hearty, filling, cold weather pizza that left my belly quite satisfied.  The kids proclaimed it "strange" but finished their pieces anyway.  I used too much filling in my pizza, above, and I have adjusted the amounts below accordingly.  This filling is quite tasty, and would be tasty in a rolled pizza, folded into puff pastry, or in a quesadilla as well as this pizza.

We have Friday Night Pizza Nights around here, but if you do Meatless Monday this recipe lends itself to weekend prep/weeknight cooking.  Fix the dough and topping on the weekend.  Have the kids take the dough out of the fridge when they get home from school (or tuck it with your lunch at work and take it out--put it by your house keys--an hour before you're due to leave work).  In the time it takes to preheat the oven you can stretch the dough and spread the toppings.

NOTE: This recipe is not gluten free as written, because I used all purpose and whole wheat flours. To adapt this recipe for a gluten free diet please substitute the gluten free flour blend of your choice, or make your own--here are some options:
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free-flour-mix-white/
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free-flour-mix-whole-grain/
Check labels to confirm that your other ingredients are also gluten free. Good sources for determining gluten free products can be found here:
http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Roasted Pumpkin Pizza Dough (I like to make my dough a couple of days ahead)

1/2 cup (4 ounces) roasted pumpkin
(see how I put up my pumpkin here, you can use canned pumpkin too)

1/4 cup water, may need a tablespoon or two more

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour, may need a tablespoon or two more

1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt (I used kosher)

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Refer to my Pizza Primer for step by step instructions and general pizza dough making hints, tips, photo collages, and my thoughts on making pizza in your own home.  Or just dump everything into a bowl (I use a stand mixer w/ a paddle) and mix until you have a slightly sticky dough, adding additional water or flour as needed (refer to this post for photos showing the dough in stages of mixing). Transfer to an oiled bowl.  This keeps in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for a couple of months.

Note:  I made too much topping, so the amounts below are not what you see in this photo. Well the garlic is right.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Pizza

Pumpkin Pizza dough (see above) or any prepared pizza dough of your choice

1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 clove roasted garlic

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin (see how I put up my pumpkin here, you can use canned pumpkin too)

1 to 2 Tablespoons maple syrup (I used 1 Tablespoon)

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons dried chopped onion (or 1/4 cup chopped fresh onion)

1/2 cup cooked black beans

1/2 to 1 teaspoons bacon salt (mine is a vegan product, and I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

1 cup shredded Italian blend cheeses

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  If you've got a pizza stone (I wrote an Ode to mine) please have it preheat as well.  If you don't--yet--use a cookie sheet.  On an oiled piece of parchment paper, stretch out the dough into a circle or square--your choice.  I'd suggest a square because it's a hearty, knife and fork type of pizza.

In a small bowl, smush the roasted garlic in a small amount of olive oil (about 1 to 2 Tablespoons) and brush it on the crust.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, combine pumpkin, maple syrup, garlic and onion until well blended.  Stir in black beans.  Add up to 1/2 teaspoon bacon salt, then taste and see if you'd like a bit more bacon flavor or a bit more sweet and adjust accordingly (remember you'll be adding cheese if it's not salty enough).  Spread the pumpkin-bean mixture over the prepared crust.  Top with shredded cheese.  Bake on the parchment for 5 to 8 minutes, then shimmy the crust onto the pizza stone or cookie sheet, and continue baking until cheese is browned and bubbly.  Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then slice (link to my favorite pizza cutter) and serve.

What else can you top a roasted pumpkin pizza crust with?  Stay tuned until next week, when I get all meaty.  Um, in a pizza sort of way.

BBQ Beef and Cheddar on Roasted Pumpkin Pizza Dough

This post is shared with the From the Farm Blog Hop,  Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up and What's Cookin' Wednesday