Blue October Pizza, Pasta, and Gnocchi
My bestie Amanda and I were reminiscing about a pizza restaurant we used to love in Somerville, MA, called Zing! Pizza. They had a bunch of creative pizzas, and our favorite was an autumnal-themed one with squash, caramelized onions, spinach, and blue cheese. Unfortunately, it closed back in 2011, and we weren't sure if we were remembering the name or ingredients correctly. Amazingly, I discovered the website is still up and running! We remembered it correctly, and it was called the Blue October! I set about to make some carbs in honor of the flavors in that pizza.
Thanks to two previous recipes already on my blog, plus my tendency to hoard leftovers in my freezer, I had everything on hand to make this happen. The two main components are this easy savory, creamy pumpkin sauce, and caramelized onions that I make in my slow cooker. Next, stir in crumbled blue cheese (which I also keep in my freezer) and some fresh baby spinach. I like to add pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) as well, because they add a nice crunch.
Last night, I made this with packaged gnocchi, and it came together in the time it took to boil the gnocchi (5 minutes). It would work equally well with pasta. I recommend penne, because the way the creamy pumpkin sauce fills the holes is just delightful.
Of course, it makes a great pizza, too. Spread the pumpkin sauce on your dough, top with mozzarella, caramelized onions, and fresh kale. I like to use kale instead of spinach because it crisps right up and turns into kale chips on the pizza! I add pepitas toward the end of cooking so they don't burn.
So try out this surprising combo of ingredients on top of your favorite carb this fall!
Thanks to two previous recipes already on my blog, plus my tendency to hoard leftovers in my freezer, I had everything on hand to make this happen. The two main components are this easy savory, creamy pumpkin sauce, and caramelized onions that I make in my slow cooker. Next, stir in crumbled blue cheese (which I also keep in my freezer) and some fresh baby spinach. I like to add pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) as well, because they add a nice crunch.
Last night, I made this with packaged gnocchi, and it came together in the time it took to boil the gnocchi (5 minutes). It would work equally well with pasta. I recommend penne, because the way the creamy pumpkin sauce fills the holes is just delightful.
Of course, it makes a great pizza, too. Spread the pumpkin sauce on your dough, top with mozzarella, caramelized onions, and fresh kale. I like to use kale instead of spinach because it crisps right up and turns into kale chips on the pizza! I add pepitas toward the end of cooking so they don't burn.
So try out this surprising combo of ingredients on top of your favorite carb this fall!
I used to live right upstairs from ZING pizza and relay the following:
ReplyDeleteZING pizza was in PORTER SQUARE, Cambridge, close to Somerville but in Cambridge.
As you know, (by linking to their sign), they used butternut squash. So, not sure where your recipe for pumpkin puree (using canned pumpkin) and other substitutions comes into the picture as to trying to replicate the BLUE OCTOBER unless of course, your aim is to 'honor' it by deviating from it significantly.
They used butternut squash roasted in a hot oven,pureed with some olive oil, seasoned with some salt and pepper and a dash of ground nutmeg.
The baby spinach became nice and soft in the oven. Crunch or crisp to the toppings (re your substitution with kale and addition of pumpkin seeds) would not come close to an attempt to replicate the Blue October. Crunch and crisp for the pizza was from their very thin crust dough baked in a very hot oven.
You got the caramelized onions, mozzarella and blue cheese right.
Haha, as I said, my memory was hazy! Anyway, it's been fun riffing off these flavors to create other autumnal dishes.
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