Really good things: Finding that extra button that came with your blazer right when you need it. Wearing bright colors. Buying the perfect birthday card for someone. Pasta nights. Walking somewhere new. New dresses. Green juices that don’t taste like green things. Planning trips. Planning parties. Planning outfits. Pizza shortcuts.
These are pita pizzas – the easiest kind of cute, individual pizza. And also, my favorite kind of pizza shortcut.
I don’t like most pre-baked pizza crusts – they tend to be too doughy and cardboard-y. And when I’m feeling entirely too lazy to deal with a dough rolling/stretching situation, I want something that – once taken out of the freezer – is ready to be smothered in toppings. I try to buy pocketless pitas for this purpose – so they don’t puff up in the heat of the oven.
As you can see, I was a little heavy-handed with the red pepper flakes here – because…well, I always do that. I also sprinkled it with dukkah, an Egyptian spice blend that you can either make yourself or buy.
I love roasted pumpkin, so I made a whole big batch and used only a portion of it for this recipe. Just make sure you have about 1 cup of chopped pumpkin to work with for each pizza.
Roast that pumpkin.
Mash it up and smooth it out on your pita.
Dollop that situation with some plain Greek yogurt and sprinkle with dukkah, salt, pepper and some chili, if you’re so inclined.
Baking time is super quick. Then, you slice.
Then you eat.
Pumpkin and Yogurt Pita Pizza with Dukkah (Makes 2 pizzas)
- 1 1/2-2 cups roasted Japanese pumpkin
- olive oil
- 2 pitas (mine were about 9-inch/23-cm wide)
- 3-4 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- 1-2 tablespoons dukkah (either homemade or store-bought)
- salt & pepper, to taste
- dash of red pepper flakes
First roast your pumpkin: Heat oven to 425 F/220 C. Cut pumpkin into 1 inch/2.5 cm chunks – you can take off the shin before or after roasting (I do it after – super easy!). Toss the pumpkin with a bit of olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pumpkin is golden and soft enough to mash with a fork. This can be done a day or two ahead.
Heat oven to 400 F/205 C
Mash the pumpkin on the pitas until they are covered as the base (the pumpkin is like you tomato sauce on a traditional pizza here).
Dollop with yogurt and sprinkle with dukkah, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bake for about 7-8 minutes until the pita is a little golden and crispy around the edges.
