Quick Pizza Crust with Butternut or Pumpkin

Quick Pizza Crust with Butternut or Pumpkin
Recipe courtesy of Sharp’s at Waterfold Farm http://www.sharpfarm.com/ One rise dough – make it in the morning and finish it at lunch
Ingredients
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup butternut squash or pumpkin, cooked and mashed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 package yeast
  • 3 cups (plus or minus) flour: prefer 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached white bread flours
Instructions
  1. In a bowl put one cup of warm water with a package of yeast and 2 tablespoons of dissolved sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup butternut or pumpkin, cooked and mashed to the yeast mixture. Stir gently. Add flour to form dough. Usually 3 cups is sufficient. The exact amount will vary with the water content in the butternut or pumpkin. Add flour slowly until a moist but not sticky dough forms. Turn out on a floured surface and knead the dough. Once the dough stiffens, roll out on a lightly greased pizza pan. Spray the surface of the dough with olive oil and cover with a towel. Place in a warm location. The dough will rise to double the initial volume. At this point, refrigerate it for use later that day or spread your favorite toppings on the pizza. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Thicken crusts may require you to turn the oven down to 375 degrees to complete the baking without burning the crust. Enjoy.