Recipe for whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions
Does it take a global village to make a pizza? Yes, in the case of this whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions. The "dough", a piece of whole wheat Indian naan, gets smeared with pumpkin puree (American), sprinkled with black beans (South American), and topped with caramelized onions (French, oui oui) and Italian parmesan or asiago cheese. We added a bit of garlic-and-onion chicken sausage; you could substitute leftover cooked turkey, or omit the meat altogether. The only oil comes with the onions, which you can make days ahead of time.
Whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions
From the pantry, you'll need: canned black beans (or cooked black beans), onions, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, chicken sausage, sea salt, fresh black pepper, extra virgin olive oil.
Makes 2 pizzas (serves 4). Multiply at will.
Ingredients
1 large red onion, cut in half, then thinly sliced
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 link chicken sausage (I use garlic-onion flavor), sliced into rounds (optional)
1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
2 pieces of whole wheat naan or whole wheat pita bread
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup cooked (or canned, drained) black beans
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or asiago cheese, or more to taste
Coarse sea salt
Fresh black pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat (silicone baking mat), and set aside.
In a nonstick frying pan, place the red onion and olive oil. Over low heat, cook the onions until they are very soft and beginning to brown, 10 minutes or more. Scoop the onions out of the pan, leaving any oil in the pan. (You'll have more onions than you need for this recipe, so refrigerate or freeze the leftover.)
In the oil remaining in the frying pan, cook the sausage over medium heat until lightly browned on both sides, 3-4 minutes. (If there's not enough oil in the pan, add one teaspoon of oil.) Just before the sausage is done, add the garlic slices to the pan. Cook 15 seconds, until the garlic is cooked but not burned. Remove sausage and garlic from the pan.
Set the naan breads on the baking sheet. Using a rubber spatula, smear the pumpkin purée evenly over the two breads. Sprinkle the black beans, sausage and onions, in that order. Top with cheese, and a bit of sea salt and black pepper.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve hot.
More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Peachy mama pizza
Frying pan pizza
Sausage, egg and asparagus pizza
Grilled pizza
Clam, bacon and caramelized onion pita pizza
Other recipes that use these pantry ingredients:
White pizza with shrimp on naan, from Food for My Family
Swiss chard alfredo pizza on garlic naan, from Dinner with Julie
Fig, goat cheese, and bacon naan pizzas, from Iowa Girl Eats
Chicken sausage and cardoon sauté, from Mele Cotte
Chicken sausage and lime kabobs, from Real Mom Kitchen
Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.
Ha! Serves 4! Not in my house! Something as delish as this? No no. Serves 1. No share! lol
I agree with the comment above - DELISH and serves 1!!!! great idea! and great idea for a party app- cut into small pieces serve room temp. maybe with goat cheese crumbles???
Vanillasugar, I'm laughing. I found it pretty filling because of the naan bread.
Carol, I'm laughing again. You could use goat cheese instead of the parmesan. Both might be too much. But then again, can you ever have too much cheese?
I've seen a lot of different veggie pizzas, but this is really different. It sure sounds tasty though!
What a great idea to use pumpkin puree. You're always reminding me that squash/pumpkin can be used in some very non-traditional ways. I love the combination with black beans.
Curt, this one is a little different, because of the pumpkin base. Hope you'll try it.
TW, the pumpkin gave a great sweetness to this pizza, along with the caramelized onions, and the beans gave great flavor and color. And whenever I bake with pumpkin, I have half a can left over, so this was a great way to use it.
Well, this time of year I'm putting winter squash (this year it's butternut - I have to grow my own) into and onto almost everything.... Haven't tried pizza yet, tho - I'll try this one.
What a unique idea - like the idea of pumpkin as the base instead of tomato sauce (wish I had thought of that when my son was allergic to tomatoes and was craving pizza - fortunately he can have tomatoes again).
This recipe is great for this winter. Whole wheat pizza with pumpkin, black beans and caramelized onions is too long. It should be called international pizza.
What an interesting, healthy combination. So much less cheese than regular pizza is a plus for dieters and the cholesterol-concious. I think this would work with whole wheat tortillas as well.
What a unique and fun take on pizza! I love the use of naan for a crust especially. And caramelized onions...how could you go wrong with those?!
Kate, this is a great way to use up leftover little bits of pumpkin or squash puree.
Jeanette, I love how "lean" the pumpkin makes this pizza. Maybe your son will like it.
Jeff, because you can use canned pumpkin puree, this is really a year-round recipe. Try it! (And yes -- "international pizza" really describes it!)
Laura, definitely healthy, and a tortilla or whole wheat pita bread would work, too.
Zesty, everything tastes better with caramelized onions... and cheese.
Pumpkin and black beans is such a great and somewhat unexpected combination. I really love them together.
This is an incredibly creative recipe that I have to try! I think using pumpkin puree on a pizza is a fabulous idea and I love that you topped it off with a few black beans. They are an excellent source of fiber and a staple in my own kitchen pantry.
Sylvie, pumpkin, squash, butternut squash, sweet potatoes -- any of those would be great on this pizza with the black beans.
Kati, I couldn't imagine my pantry without black beans. I always have a few cans, and I make dry beans by the pound in my slow cooker and freeze them. They are, to me, the most all-purpose bean I use in my cooking.
What a great idea! Love the mix of ingredients -- definitely want to try this one. I'm a black bean lover :)
Definitely trying this pizza combo on a gluten-free crust soon, Lydia! Some of my tomato-intolerant friends have educated me on how pumpkin can stand in for tomatoes. I love the idea of it with black beans and caramelized onions!
Shirley