Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza with Fried Sage Leaves

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

A few red leaves are dangling from my maple tree. Like the curtain to be dropped on a final performance, autumn's grand finale unfolds. A crisp wind whispers "last call", blowing another leaf from the tree. My sage bush still has a few fresh leaves that I carefully pluck away, inspiring tonight's Grilled Pizza dinnerFeed.

Slicing acorn squash

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Remnants of autumn are captured in this grilled pizza, the recipe quite similar, to the Butternut Gruyere Pizza I made last month. With that recipe, I included a video tutorial to demonstrate just how easy grilling pizza can be. Today, however, I used an acorn squash instead of a butternut squash, gorgonzola instead of Gruyere cheese.

Thanksgiving Day Recipe Countdown: Pear, Pomegranate and Pistachio Salad with Balsamic-Maple Vinaigrette; Savory Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms; Stuffed Acorn Squash with Wild Rice and Fruit; Crispy Roast Turkey (includes video); Sweet Potato-Pear Soup; Balsamic Portobellas stuffed with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes; Glazed Butternut Squash and Apples; Roasted Brussel Sprouts; Wild Rice Stuffing with Sausage and Fennel; Yogurt and Fig Cake with many more to follow on dinnerFeed.

Grilling pizza: Checking to see if it's ready to flip.

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Ingredients

1 (1- pound) acorn squash 2 tablespoons maple syrup Extra virgin olive oil for butternut squash and pizza dough 1/2 cup pecans 1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella 3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola 1 pizza dough ball, thawed if frozen Flour for dusting Fried Sage leaves*

**To fry sage leaves, in a sauté pan, simply heat 3 tablespoons of grape seed or canola oil to medium-high heat. Fry sage leaves until crispy, only 30 seconds to a minute. Carefully remove from oil with tongs, drain on paper towels, and season with kosher salt.

Directions

1.Preheat the oven to 375Ëš . 2.Slice the squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Slice the squash into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide half moons and place in a medium bowl. Toss the squash with the maple syrup and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Lightly season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. 3. Place the squash and pecans on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the squash until tender and golden, and the pecans are toasted, about 10-15 minutes. Remove skin from squash. 4. Place individual bowls of grated cheeses, toasted pecans and sage leaves in separate dishes and reserve, close to your grill for easy last-minute assembly.
 5.On a large cutting board lightly dusted with flour, prepare and stretch the thawed dough. Following package instructions, after dough “rests”, stretch into a large 10-12 inch oval, circle or rectangle.( I prefer a a thin crust, so I stretch it thin--slightly transparent in the center.) Lightly brush olive oil on both sides of dough.
 6.Oil and clean grill grates. If you are using a gas grill, turn one side to low and keep the other side on medium-high. If you are using a charcoal grill, build the coals higher on one side so that there is a hot side and a cooler side.
 7.Gently lift the dough by the edges and drape it on the hot side of the grill. Grill pizza until golden brown on bottom side, about 3-5 minutes depending on temperature of the grill. 
 8.Using tongs, flip the crust over and move crust to the cooler section of the grill. Immediately decorate the grilled side of the dough (that is now facing up) with the ingredients, sprinkling with mozzarella and gorgonzola after your design is complete. 9. Close the grill cover and allow cheese to melt, 2-4 minutes. With a large spatula and guiding hand, remove cooked pizza from grill. Garnish with fried sage leaves, if desired.