Butternut Squash "Pizza" Sauce

It's been about 5 years since I've had a slice of authentic, red sauce pizza. 

Turns out, My body can't handle the red sauce. I found out the hard way :-|

I don't miss it too much, because I know I definitely don't want to feel how I felt ever again. It was terrible! So, I swore off ALL PIZZA. People, I didn't eat one single slice of pizza for a LONG TIME.

However, after about 4 years of being off the sauce, I missed being able to put a cold piece of pizza in my mouth for breakfast (anyone else like cold pizza more than warm pizza??). The PNO's will do that to you with their Pizza Friday traditions.

I had a brilliant idea. What if I used a different kind of sauce? (duh.) The olive oil pizzas were too oily for me, and I'm not a fan of pesto (wow - I swear I'm really not that picky!) 

One day I came across a recipe for butternut squash sauce. I was intrigued. Squash for pizza sauce?? Now, I have an interesting palate (peanut butter and pickle sandwiches

 anyone??) So I was willing to give it a try - and I am so glad I did! 

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What You'll Need:

- 1 medium butternut squash (a 2 pounder will yield about 3 cups)

- 2 garlic cloves (or one if it's large)

- olive oil

- salt and pepper 

- about 1/2 cup chicken broth or water (for blending)

This was a large clove of garlic so I only used one

Peel Butternut squash with potato peeler (or knife if you are feeling adventurous) 

Cut the squash in half lengthwise & scoop out the seeds

Chop up butternut squash and put in a bowl. Sprinkle about a Tablespoon of olive oil over them. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Once the chunks are coated, lay on a single layer on your baking sheet. Peel garlic and place on baking sheet too. 

Cook in a 400* oven for about 20 minutes or until they are browned and a fork can easily go through them. 

Once they are cooled slightly, add them to your blender. Pulse. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth slowly and keep pulsing until desired consistency (you may need to add more, depending on your blender and the texture you are wanting)

The blender makes it look chunkier than it is. This has no chunks, but is a thicker consistency. YUM!

Out of the blender, I mixed it a little more to smooth out the consistency from the blades. This goes great on pizza! I'll have a pizza post soon. I've also used this for baked pasta which is also tasty! 

To store leftovers, I use this great baby food storage container. They portion, AND they pop out so easy so you can just pop as many as you want in a small kettle to warm up! It's perfect! I also freeze this to last longer, especially if I know I won't use this sauce for a bit! Definitely recommend this!