White Bean, Kale, and Butternut Squash Pizza

I’ve always liked the combination of white beans, kale, and butternut squash, but I’ve only seen it as a stew – kind of boring. My recent culinary solution to everything is pizza, so I figured that these ingredients would be great on a pizza.

I made a version of this a few weeks ago, and while it was good, it wasn’t quite right. I thought about it for a while, came up with a solution, and, being the easily distracted person I am,never got around to it. Well, I finally did the other night, and this second version of it is really really good. All of the flavors shine – nothing gets lost like it might in a stew. And it’s a pizza. Who doesn’t like pizza? (Weird people, that’s who.)

White Bean, Kale, and Butternut Squash Pizza
(makes two 10-inch pies)

2 balls of dough, each for a 10-inch pizza (I always have some in my freezer)
½ cup white beans
2 cloves roasted garlic
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon milk
2 cups (tightly packed) kale, cut into bite size pieces
Neck of a small (about 1 – 1 ¼ pounds) butternut squash
¼ teaspoon light brown sugar
1 ¼ cups shredded fontina cheese
About 20 small sage leaves

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Heat an oven to 500º F. (If you are using a pizza stone, place the stone on the lowest rack of the oven and heat the oven at least a half hour before baking the pizza so that the stone gets hot. If you’re not using a stone, put a rack in the middle of the oven.)

Make the sauce by pureeing the beans, garlic, salt, pepper, 2 teaspoons of oil, and milk in a food processor until smooth.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the kale and cook for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander. Return the kale to the hot pot to dry off any excess moisture.

Peel the neck of the squash and cut it into 4 pieces lengthwise. Cut each piece crosswise into 1/8” thick slices. Toss the squash slices with the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Stretch one ball of dough into a 10-inch round and place it onto a peel coated with cornmeal or onto a large baking sheet coated with cornmeal. Spread half the sauce evenly on the dough, leaving a ½” border. Evenly distribute half the kale over the sauce and top it with half of the cheese. Arrange half of the squash slices over the cheese and sprinkle half of the sage on top. Repeat with the remaining ball of dough.

Bake until the squash is just soft and the crust is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Let the pizza rest for a few minutes before slicing.