Delicata Squash and Sausage Crostata

I was visiting my great aunt which always means fun cooking projects. This time she had a beautiful delicata squash in her fridge that she wanted to feature somehow. Some lenghty googling and pinterest holes found us at this recipe from Food & Wine which I’m excited about for a few reasons:

1) It turned out delicious
2) It’s basically like a pizza but you can put waaaaaay more filling in it
3) Like a pizza, you can use whatever “toppings” you want – so versatile!
4) We also turned this into the next-day’s breakfast by putting a fried egg on top, which was awesome. (I would have also added some arugula if we’d had some because the fresh/spice would have gone well)

So…. here’s what you do

MAKE THE CRUST

– Cut 3/4c cold butter into 1 1/2c flour and 1/4tsp salt. (They say to use 1c white and 1/2c buckwheat. We just used plain gf flour for the whole thing, and it worked out) (They also say to make the crust in a food processor, but I did it by hand and it was fine)
– Add in ~1/3c ice water and mix until the dough comes together
– Flatten the dough into a crust shape on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (They have more complicated steps here if you’re making a regular crust, but with gf it’s just a matter of smushing)
– Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you make the filling!

MAKE THE FILLING

– Preheat the oven to 400*f
PART 1
– Put 1tbsp olive oil into a skillet
– Add in and cook until browned:
— 8oz italian sausage (casings removed)
— 1tsp sesame seeds (they say fennel seeds but we didn’t have that)
– Remove the skillet from heat and stir in:
— Your beautiful delicata squash – halved, seeded, and thinly sliced
— Salt and pepper
PART 2
– Mix together:
— 2c ricotta
— 1tbsp oregano (they said fresh but we used dried – and not a whole tbsp)
— 1tbsp honey
— 1/4tsp salt

PUT IT TOGETHER
– Spread the ricotta over the crust, leaving 2 inches around the sides
– Put the squash/sausage mixture on top
– Fold the edges of the dough up over the sides of the filling (I did this by lifting the parchment paper, which worked pretty well!)
– Paint the edges with beaten egg
– Sprinkle on salt (or we did a salt-toasted sesame mixture which is my new favorite seasoning)
– Bake 40-45 minutes until browned
– Drizzle with more honey (and add more oregano and/or red pepper flakes if you have – we did not)

SERVE!

Other commentary – the crust felt super bland to me, and that’s with my low gf standards. My non-gf dinner mates said they liked it though, so… do what you want with that.