Browned Butter Sage Pumpkin Pizza

This is pizza with a delicious twist!Instead of the usual tomato sauce this pizza pie has a sauce made of pumpkin and sage butter.  If you have ever eaten pumpkin ravioli with browned sage butter sauce you know how delicious that combination can be.  This pizza made with pumpkin, browned sage butter, smoked mozzarella, and black forest ham is equally surprising and VERY tasty.  The mixture of  slightly sweet and spiced pumpkin, with the “nutty” taste of the browned butter, and the salty parmesan cheese, and smoky mozzarella and ham make this a pizza that will almost melt in your mouth!  Perfect for a weekend lunch or supper 🙂

Pumpkin Browned Butter Pizza

1 recipe of pizza dough
1 cup pumpkin puree (this is the same pumpkin you use to make pumpkin pie)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1 bunch of fresh sage leaves
1 8 oz package of smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
fresh parmesan cheese
1/4 pound Black Forest ham sliced thinly*

Make your dough and set half of it aside to use later or if you are feeding several people, double the rest of these ingredients and make 2 pizzas.  Spread your dough unto desired shape on a baking pan.  Wash and thoroughly dry sage leaves.

Melt butter in a sauce pan and add sage leaves.  Cook over medium high heat until butter begins to brown, then remove from heat but allow sage leaves to remain in the butter to flavor it for about 10 minutes.

Brush pizza dough lightly with sage butter.   Mix 1 cup of pumpkin with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice and then add 1/2 of the butter to the pumpkin mixture.  Stir to combine all the ingredients.

Spread the pumpkin mixture on the dough.  Top with grated mozzarella cheese, sliced ham and as much parmesan cheese as you prefer.  Drizzle remaining sage butter over top of the pizza and sprinkle the toasted sage leaves around the pizza as well.

Bake in a 500 degree over until cheese is melted and slightly browned and crust is brown and puffed,….now mangia!