Squash season

Julie Van Rosendaal drops by with some creative ways to use seasonal squash.

Roasted Squash Pizza with Caramelized Onions & Bacon

1 small squash - any kind - peeled, seeded and diced
olive or canola oil
6-8 slices bacon
2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 batch pizza dough (see below)
2-4 cups grated mozzarella, Gouda or other meltable cheese

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss squash in a drizzle of olive or canola oil and roast at 400F for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden. In a heavy skillet, cook the bacon, set it aside and cook the onion in the drippings until it turns golden. Crumble the bacon.

Divide the pizza dough in half and roll out as thin as you like. Set on cornmeal or flour-dusted rimmed baking sheets. Spread the roasted squash, caramelized onions and crumbled bacon over the dough and scatter with cheese. Bake at 450F for 15-20 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

Pizza Dough

1 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg. (or 2 tsp.) active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar or honey
2 1/2 - 3 cups flour - all purpose, whole wheat, or any combination of the two (I usually use about 2 3/4 cups)
1 tsp. salt
a drizzle (1 tsp. - 1 Tbsp.) olive or canola oil

In a large bowl, stir together the water, yeast and sugar; set aside for 5 minutes, until it's foamy. (If it doesn't get foamy, either your water was too hot and killed the yeast or it was inactive to begin with - toss it and buy fresh yeast or try again!)

Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour, salt and oil and stir until the dough comes together. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 8 minutes, until it's smooth and elastic, adding a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat all over. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for half an hour to an hour, until doubled in bulk. If you want you can let it rise more slowly in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

Roll the dough out into one or two pizzas. Spread the pizza dough with tomato sauce or paste, sprinkle with desired toppings and bake on a preheated pizza stone or cookie sheet at 450F for 15-20 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

Makes enough dough for 2 - 9" pizzas, or one big rectangular one.