I know you’re saying “ugh, another pizza recipe”‘ and I totally get it. HOWEVER, this pizza is the perfect seasonal pizza. The pancetta is the perfect salty pork deliciousness without bringing the sweet and smoky with it that bacon does.
Pumpkin and Pancetta Pizza
Author: Jeff Parker
Recipe type: Direct heat + Indirect with pizza stone
Serves: 2 to 4
Ingredients
- 1 small pie pumpkin, about 2 pounds (do not use a jack-o-lantern pumpkin)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil + 1 tablespoon
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt + ¼ teaspoon
- 1 ball prepared pizza dough, room temperature
- Flour, for rolling
- Cornmeal, for dusting
- ½ cup whole milk mozzarella (get the good stuff)
- 6 ounces pancetta, cooked and chopped
- 12 fresh sage leaves
- Optional Extras:
- Grilling grid
- Pizza stone
- Pizza peel
Instructions
- Set grilling grid over clean grates and preheat for direct cooking over medium heat. Slice pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds; reserve if you want to roast them. Slice pumpkin into 1-inch slices and toss with 2 teaspoons olive oil, spices, and 1'4 teaspoon salt until slices are well-coated. Place on grill/grid and cook for 20 minutes, tuning once halfway through cooking. Remove and when cool enough to handle cut away the skin trying to keep strips intact.
- Crank up grill for high indirect heat. Set pizza stone so it’s not over the flame and heat the stone to at least 450°F to 500°F. It will take some time to get it that hot, so don’t get too far ahead of yourself. (You can also cook this directly on a well-oiled grate).
- While the grill is heating, Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface to a desired size and thickness (no wider than your peel). Sprinkle your peel with cornmeal and transfer the rolled dough onto the peel. Stir the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt into the ricotta. Spread evenly over the pizza dough leaving a ½- to 1-inch border. Sprinkle with cooked and chopped pancetta, and the arrange pumpkin slices. Top with the sage leaves so every slice get one or two.
- Transfer pizza to the hot stone and close the grill cover for about 8 to 12 minutes (depending how hot your grill is) or until crust is golden brown and blistered. No peeking for at least the first 8 minutes. Remove from grill, slice, serve, and enjoy.
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- Cut in half and remove seeds
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- Season and grill
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- Grilled pumpkin
Cheers and Happy Grilling!
Jeff
[…] my recipe for GrillingOutdoorRecipes.com this week. It’s not just any pizza…it’s Pumpkin and Pancetta Pizza! The pumpkin and pancetta come together nicely for a perfectly seasonal […]