Pizza with Tofu Ricotta

Ingredients 1 pound fresh, store-bought, prepared whole wheat pizza dough

1 pound package pre-peeled and cut butternut squash

4 Tbsp olive oil

10-15 fresh sage leaves

1 large sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced

Tofu ricotta 1 pound extra firm tofu

1 tsp lemon juice

¼ cup nutritional yeast

½ – 1 tsp salt¼ tsp garlic powder

Instructions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring the pizza dough to room temperature on the counter for 20 minutes. If necessary, cut butternut squash pieces to be relatively uniform in size, then coat with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Cook squash in the oven for 25 minutes until it becomes soft. It may be slightly undercooked at this point, but will continue to cook on top of the pizza.Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the onion slices and stir to coat in olive oil. Sautee onion slices for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until the onions have browned, caramelized and softened. Remove onions from the skillet.Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and bring to medium heat. Place sage leaves in the olive oil for 30-60 seconds until they begin to crisp. Remove from heat and place on a paper towel.To prepare the tofu ricotta, drain and squeeze remaining moisture out of the block of tofu. I use my TofuXpress but you can also use this plate method. In a large bowl, fork mash the tofu until it is crumbly. Mix in the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder until well combined. Set aside.Increase the oven temperature to 450F. Dust a pizza baking sheet or stone with flour and stretch the dough out into a large circle. Brush with remaining olive oil. Top the dough with tofu ricotta, covering the entire pizza until about 1” from the edges. Evenly place the cut butternut squash over the ricotta. I used about ¾ of the butternut squash, and saved the rest for another meal. Top the squash with caramelized onions and fried sage leaves. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

By Janel Funk, Eat Well with Janel