Roasted Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Pizza on One-Hour Whole Wheat Crust
Roasted sweet potatoes, crunchy bell peppers, and tangy, creamy goat cheese are piled onto a soft, thick and chewy homemade crust. The dough for the crust only takes one hour to make and rise, and it's a now-or-later dough. So you can make a pizza within an hour, or save it for up to 2 days later. While the dough is rising, roast the sweet potato, and then get ready to bake off this hearty, easy, satisfying homemade pizza. It's foolproof, goofproof, and now you can have homemade pizza in no time - 10 minutes to prep the dough, 60 minutes to rise, 10-15 minutes to bake the pizza.
1large sweet potatoor red yam; or try butternut squash, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
¼cup+ olive oildivided uses - for drizzling
salt and pepperto taste
1 ½tablespoonscornmeal for dusting baking sheetoptional but recommended
⅓cupbell peppersdiced small
2ouncesgoat cheeseor to taste
optional - additional vegetablescheese, meat or alternate protein, fresh herbs, seasonings, spices - all added to taste
Instructions
For the Dough - Get the dough to the point of rising for 1 hour from the One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe. Place covered bowl of dough in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 1 hour. (I’ve let this dough rise for as long as 2 hours due to distractions and timing issues, and nothing bad happens. Actually, the crust turns out fluffier. But the recipe does and will work with just a 1 hour rise). Set bowl aside.
For the Sweet Potato - Peheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with a Silpat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray; set aside.Tip: A nice place for the pizza dough to rise is on top of the oven while the potato bakes because the residual heat is beneficial for rising.
Peel sweet potato and slice into thin rounds, about one-eighth-inch thick. I do this with a knife, you can use a mandolin. Slices should be thin, not paper thin. Arrange slices in an even flat layer on prepared baking sheet (they'll take up the whole tray if potato was large; use 2 trays if necessary), drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, flipping once midway though. Potatoes should be fork tender and cooked through, but don't cook them to the point of becoming browned or crispy because they're going back into the oven for about 15 minutes as pizza toppings and will crisp up more then. Allow potato slices to cool and remain on baking tray until it's time to assemble pizza; set tray aside.
After 1 hour (or longer), or until dough has doubled or nearly doubled in size, punch down the dough. Choose to either refrigerate dough in a covered bowl for up to 2 days for later use; or use it now. You may be able to use some now, some later, depending on desired size of pizzas. If using it later, when ready to bake, simply remove it from fridge, and follow the directions below, jumping in now.
For the Pizza Assembly - Preheat oven to 425 (or up to 550F +). Divide dough into two pieces (refrigerate the other half and use it the next day) or make it all now, in whatever size and shape you desire. Turn dough out onto floured or lightly oiled work surface or Silpat, and roll it into the size and shaped desired. I suggest rolling it on the thinner side since the dough will rise and puff while baking, and I prefer starting out with thinner dough so the finished crust isn't too thick. The dough is springy and will try to snap back and recoil, but just keep on stretching or rolling it into shape.
Place dough onto Silpat- or parchment-lined or cooking sprayed baking sheet, or bake on a pizza stone if you have one. If baking on a baking sheet, sprinkling 1 to 2 tablespoons cornmeal on baking sheet before placing dough on top of it will prevent bottom from browning too fast and is recommended. Prick dough with the tines of a fork in about 1 dozen places, like pricking a pie crust, to ensure air and steam can escape and that air bubbles won't form.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the dough; or use browned butter, pizza sauce, pesto or salsa. Top with sweet potatoes in an even flat layer, or in slightly overlapping layers (I used about half of the slice). Sprinkle the bell peppers and the goat cheese over the top. Optionally, top with additional vegetables, meat, cheese, seasonings, spices, extra pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over the top, if desired.
Baking temps can vary from from 425 to 550F+, and from about 8 to 20 minutes, depending on toppings, how many were used, how thick the crust is, oven variances, and personal preference. I baked at 425 for about 16 minutes, rotating once midway through. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be wrapped, refrigerated, and kept for up to 4 days. Reheat gently in the microwave prior to serving.
Recipe is easily kept vegan by replacing the goat cheese with a favorite vegan cheese, since the crust is already vegan.