I believe I’ve mentioned many times before how much I adore Kabocha squash. Of all the lovely orbs that abound over the winter, a Kabocha or even a Delicata will always suffice. In fact, it’s a close call between the two on some days – but one always wins out. I relish in winter squash season. It warms my heart.

Oh, and back to Kabocha squash. It’s actually a Japanese pumpkin (often tempura fried at sushi restaurants) and has the consistency of a sweet potato and more of the flavor of butternut squash. It’s amazing. You must try! And, the gnarly green skin is actually edible after cooking if you don’t want to peel! (Score, no more kniving accidents in the kitchen this year).

And, you must be familiar with prosciutto, right?
Italian: [proʃˈʃutto]) is an Italian dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian (or simply crudo) and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto.

You’ll NEVER see me consume ham…but dry cured pork, oh yeah.

Prosciutto Winter Squash Blue & White Pizza

1 pkg. active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
1 tsp. white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 tsp. sea salt

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. prosciutto, thinly sliced
3 oz. Danish bleu cheese, crumbled
2 oz. cooked Kabocha squash, chopped (or any winter squash)
freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.
Using a dough hook on a stand mixer (or by hand) combine the dissolved yeast mixture, flour, 2 Tbs. olive oil, and salt. Form into a nice dough ball. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Divide the ball into 2-3 smaller pieces and roughly form into a pizza form, with one and reserve the others for cinnamon rolls! (I made chocolate peanut butter cinnamon rolls with my extra dough this time). Rustic forms are best, in my opinion. Flour your hands to prevent sticking. You can try tossing, rolling, stretching…whatever your heart desires.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with oil.
Dot with prosciutto and bleu cheese and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browning.
Remove from the oven and top with the baked squash and lots of pepper. Feel free to drizzle more olive oil atop, if necessary.