This Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Flatbread is a true gift. Homemade pizza dough is topped with roasted butternut squash, smoky and sweet caramelized onions, and fresh sage. The perfect Fall appetizer.
Appetizers For Dinner?
I’m a big fan of appetizers for dinner. Anyone else? Picture this: a gourmet spread with all of your favorite things. Fill up your plate, but don’t worry: it’s appetizers! You’ll be back for more.
Regardless of the season, this style of eating always feels special to me. Whether it’s a summer BBQ with all the dips and chips, game day with wings and nachos, or a special holiday gathering with charcuterie and warm, bubbly spreads, something about appetizers for dinner just gets me.
There’s something so informal about “finger food”, so why not elevate the experience? Let this Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Flatbread help ya out.
Make Your Own Flatbread
The beauty of any flatbread or pizza is that you can shape, top it, bake it, and eat it any way your little heart pleases. Given the time of year, my heart was singing sweet tunes of sweet roasted butternut squash and smoky caramelized onions.
You see why I didn’t seek out any other options? It sounds too delicious to be true!
Luckily for us, although it is VERY delicious, it is very much true and real, and you’re going to make it. Deal?!
Roasting Butternut Squash
First things first, let’s roast that butternut squash, shall we? I love roasting all sorts of veggies like this, although for this recipe I’m cutting the squash a little smaller than I normally would if I were just roasting it up as a side dish.
It gets a nice little drizzle of olive oil (flavored options work deliciously), sprinkle in a clove of minced garlic, and top it off with some salt and pepper. That’s it!
You can absolutely toss in your favorite fried or fresh herb if you like in this step. I really wanted the butternut squash’s sweetness to shine through, so I kept it simple. We’ll also be topping the flatbread with fresh sage, so we’ve got herbs coming!
Caramelizing Onions
If ever there were a single way to prepare onions…this would be it.
The spherical allium’s pungent spiciness is completely mellowed as they’re slowly caramelized in equal parts of butter and olive oil. The trick is to keep a close eye: you’ll want to be stirring the onions frequently so they turn golden brown. Patience is the name of the game with caramelizing onions, one that pays dividends in the flavor department.
Pizza Dough
I will not turn my nose up at buying a store bought pizza dough: far from it! I’ve done it a time or twelve myself. However, if I have the time and foresight, I’ll always make my own dough. There’s something about it that makes it that much more special.
Purists will tell you that flatbread dough is different from pizza dough. While I don’t disagree, I’ve always used doughs that use yeast to leaven, so it’s tried and true.
Can We Make Flatbread Friday A Thing?
Add this delicious flatbread to your next appetizer round up! A strong 10/10 recommendation to make this gorgeous Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Flatbread this weekend or as soon as humanly possible. Enjoy!
Looking for more appetizer inspiration?
Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Flatbread
Ingredients
For the pizza dough:
- 1 cup water, 100 to 110 degrees
- 10 oz bread flour, about 2 cups and 2 Tablespoons
- 1 package dry yeast, about 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 4 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the roasted butternut squash:
- 1 medium butternut squash, about 2 1/2 cups worth of cubed squash total
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to season
For the caramelized onions:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
For serving:
- Fresh Sage leaves
- Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
For the pizza dough:
- Pour 3/4 cup warm water in to a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. Add flour, mixing until just combined. Cover and allow to stand for 20 minutes.
- Add remaining 1/4 cup of warm water to a small bowl and top with yeast. Mix it with a wooden or plastic spoon, allow to stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.
- Add yeast mixture, olive oil, and salt to flour mixture. Mix for 5 minutes until a soft dough forms. Transfer to a large bowl coated with cooking spray and wrap with plastic wrap. Move to the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stretch dough out to 10-12 inch oblong shape, placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until dough is puffed but still underdone. You'll add the toppings to the the pizza dough and cook it longer.
For the roasted butternut squash:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the ends off of a butternut squash, removing the skin carefully with a chef's knife. Chop squash in to cubes, adding to a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, or until squash is fork tender.
Foe the caramelized onions:
- In a large saute pan set over medium low heat, add olive oil and butter. Once butter has melted, add sliced onions. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
- Keeping a close eye on them, continue to saute onions for about 25 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently to encourage even caramelization.
To assemble flatbread:
- Once the butternut squash is roasted, the onions caramelized, and the pizza dough has been parbaked, it's time to assemble your flatbread!
- Top parbaked dough with an even layer of caramlized onions, followed by butternut squash. Try to evenly disperse the ingredients so each bite is delicious.
- Lightly drizzle with olive oil (garlic or mushroom and sage olive oil is amazing on this), and return to oven to bake another 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees, until flatbread is warmed through.
- Top with fresh sage leaves.