Butternut Puff Pastry Tart with Smoked Gouda

October 26, 2012

Two weeks ago, I bought a butternut squash, but due to the craziness of my schedule, I was unable to cook it. For two weeks, it sat on the kitchen counter, sad, wanting to be used somehow. Finally, I put my foot down and decided to make a delicious dish with my two-week old butternut squash.

One of my favorite recipes, which is a Gordon Ramsay creation, is his "Butternut Squash Puff Pastry Pizza." It's not only super yummy, but very easy to make. I've made this on a whim for lunch/dinner...heck, I even made it for Thanksgiving last year and it was a hit! It's a great fall dish and I guarantee you and your family/friends will love it!

Butternut Squash Puff Pastry Pizza

(originally created by Gordon Ramsay, modified by me)

Ingredients:

- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet, allow to defrost until soft, but still stiff enough to work with

- smoked cheese, grated

- dried sage or herbes de provence, to taste
- salt/pepper, to taste

- 1 egg

- olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. (If you use foil, be sure to spray with PAM.)

2. Prepare the butternut squash. Peel the squash and cut into bite sized pieces. You can also purchase the already prepared squash at the grocery store.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté butternut squash until soft. Season with salt, pepper, and herbes de provence. Set aside in a bowl.

4. Roll out softened puff pastry onto prepared sheet. Using a knife, lightly mark a 1 in perimeter around the the puff pastry. This will serve as your crust.

5. Brush "crust" with egg. This will give a nice golden brown color when baked.

6. Layer the bottom of the puff pastry with cheese. Gordon says to used grated smoked cheese, but I had sliced smoked gouda that I wanted to use up, so I used that instead. It doesn't really make a difference was you use.