Does your family do a Friday night or Game Day Pizza Party? It’s a fun way to end a hectic week and have an all-ages party to welcome the weekend. Make our buy pizza dough, have a spread of all the fixin’s and get everyone in the kitchen making their own pizza. I do this a lot when we have company and there are varied tastes and special diets in the group. Having a wide variety of vegetables (and fruits) to top a vegetarian pizza is never a problem in our house and for gluten free guests there are a number of recipes online for gluten free pizza dough but, in a crunch, especially since there’s always a package in the fridge because it’s easy to make a meal of them – corn tortillas are a terrific timesaver and they’re gluten free!
For today, the corn tortillas are serving as cute little pizzas – or pizzettas – for the Pizza Party I’m throwing with Terra of Café Terra. Terra is one of many friends I’ve made through the food blogging community. She and I bonded over our love of pizza – we agree wholeheartedly that pizza is practically its own food group and, if either of us were sent to live on a deserted island, pizza would be one of the foods we would take with us. Over the years, we have visited each other’s websites and began to notice we enjoy the same kind of food: uncomplicated dishes with a rustic farmhouse appeal and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables; but it wasn’t until Instagram that we discovered our mutual admiration of pizza.
Back in the day, I used to buy pizza dough from Trader Joe’s or the family-owned Italian deli across the street from where we lived. Now, with Don’s sodium restriction, I make my own dough. It’s really very simple but requires an hour or so to allow the dough to rise. My go-to pizza dough recipes are Marcela Hazan’s recipe and King Arthur’s Flour pizza dough (they also have a gluten-free recipe).
Topped with roasted butternut squash and a savory mixture of oyster mushrooms and sweet red Kapia peppers these perfect little pizzas are made gluten free (and lower calorie) with corn tortillas and are a quick and easy option for gluten free guests at your pizza party! With the flavors of fall they’re also a great game day appetizer.
To roast diced butternut squash, first drizzle with lemon olive oil.
- 2 cups of diced butternut squash roasted
- 2 tablespoons lemon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon of red chile flakes optional
- 4 ounces diced pancetta or bacon omit for vegetarian
- 3 ounces oyster mushrooms chopped
- 2 Kapia red pepper seeded and diced*
- 2 cups shredded Manchego or white cheddar cheese*
- 6 figs stem removed
- 3 tablespoons Chaparral Farms Tuscan Melody vinegar*
- 4 fresh sage leaves sliced thin
- 8 corn tortillas
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
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Spread the diced butternut squash on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with lemon olive oil. Using your clean hands, move the squash around to coat all the pieces with the olive oil. Sprinkle with red chile flakes. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove squash from the baking sheet and set aside.
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While the squash is roasting, sauté the pancetta or chopped bacon in a small skillet over medium high heat. Remove the pancetta and set aside. Add the chopped oyster mushrooms and red peppers to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes or until the moisture from the mushrooms is cooked off.
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Blend the figs skin and all with the balsamic vinegar in a blender or VitaMix. Makes about one cup of fig sauce. Set aside. Warm the tortillas in the oven for a few minutes. Remove and increase the heat to 400 degrees.
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Place the tortillas on the same baking sheet as you used for the squash. Top with a tablespoon of shredded cheese, cubes of butternut squash, sprinkle with pancetta (if using) and the mushroom/red pepper mixture and top with a little more cheese and dot with fig balsamic. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Enjoy 🙂
And, just to share some more Pizza Love – here are some of my more “traditional” pizza concoctions – all except the Green Eggs & Ham are vegetarian 🙂
Clockwise from top left: Green Eggs & Ham with kale pesto; SXSW Pizza – fried green tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, corn and pepitas; Purple Potato Pizza; and Champagne Grape Pizza aka The Cheese Board pizza.
Terra and I would love it if you joined the party by linking up your favorite pizza recipe. It’s easy – just click, add your photo and remember to type the name of the recipe for “name” not your name or your blog’s name 😉
Valentina Kenney (@cookingweekends)
What a gorgeous combination of ingredients. Love the fall vibe! 🙂
Ally'
These pizzettas look and sound insanely delicious! Love the butternut squash…have never had it on a pizza and will have to try!!
Terra Baltosiewich (@CafeTerraBlog)
Seriously, someday we must eat delicious pizza together, with a lovely cocktail of course;-) I am so glad we threw this fun PizzaParty! Now that I know how to create a linky, we could host more party’s…….ohhhhhhh, maybe a cocktail party!!!! Your pizzas look seriously addictive!!! Sending big hugs, Terra
Angie@Angie's Recipes
Love the fall touch of these mini pizzas!
laura (Tutti Dolci)
I love butternut squash, a perfect fall pizza topping!