Fall'n Acorns

The leaves are changing outside. The weather is getting chillier, wind whirling through your hair just starting to nip at your nose.  Fall vegetables are aplenty.  Hot toddies and hearty lamb stew are perfect companions to those fall nights.  Oh who am I kidding, I live in Florida and there is nothing changing colors, it's still green.  Yes, we still get all those fall vegetables but I swear people are still eating summer mango salsa with their fish and drinking rum punch and sangria, no hot toddies here.  And the only time it's cold it when it's dreary and raining out, like it has been the past couple of days.
But in light of all that, the Resort's menu is still changing for "season" i.e. Florida season when all the snow birds come down to enjoy the still green grass and warm beach days.  We are adding items like braised lamb shank and clams casino.  But what I'm most excited about is the holiday Thanksgiving menu..... I finally made something my Chef liked, tweaked a little, but it's going to be there on the Turkey-weekend menu.... my acorn squash flatbread.
Acorn squash, the forgotten squash because everyone is too obsessed with butternut to remember that acorns are just as delicious when prepared right.  Pizza or flatbreads, are pretty much a given when it comes to people liking a new food they haven't tried.  Haven't tried smoked salmon?... put in on a pizza with some hard boiled eggs, capers, lemon, dill and sour cream.  Haven't tried some kind of seasoned pork sausage or chicken sausage?.... add some hearty tomato sauce, lots of cheese and there you go, fabulous new sausage pizza.  Ever seen those Cici restaurant commercials where they display their less than appetizing pizza buffet of such pizzas like mac'n cheese on pizza..... yea, I swear they'll put any concoction on a pizza these days but mine isn't one of those.
Nope, my flatbread is much more, how should I say this, sophisticated.  If your kid doesn't like squash, apple or onions, let alone brie cheese AND salad (i.e. that so called green slimy stuff) than they probably won't like this; but that doesn't mean you can't make it for yourself or date night with your hubby.
The version for work will be on a cut-out round piece of flatbread with Asian Pear instead of Granny Smith apple but either one would taste great.
3 layers:
1) Bechemel (simple milk & roux cream sauce) with Parmesan and Brie cheeses
2) Roasted Acorn Squash with thinly sliced Granny Smith Apple and Caramelized Onions
3) Mixed Green Salad of Watercress, Greenleaf, and Arugula in olive oil

Ingredients you will need:

• 1 pre-cooked pizza shell, preferably thin crust, or buy pizza dough - roll it thin and pre-bake
• Bechemel = (makes 2 cups of white sauce) 5 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, 1/4 cup AP Flour, 2 cups whole or 2% Milk, 1/4 cup finely shaved Parm. & 1/2 cup Brie -rind removed - cheeses, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, a pinch of nutmeg.
• 2 Granny Smith apples or Asian Pears, peeled and seeded, thinly sliced
• 1 large Sweet Vadalia Onion
• 2 cups approx. of mixed greens: Baby Arugula, Greenleaf julienned, and Watercress stemmed

To make the Sauce: Melt the butter in a medium sized sauce pot over medium heat then with a wooden spoon, stir in the flour making a roux, cook for 1 minute. Heat the milk up to just under a simmer, and begin using a whisk as you pour the hot milk into the roux. Stir constantly but slowly with the whisk until the mixture gets thick - you can both feel it when you stir but to double check take the wooden spoon and after dipping, if you finger leaves a mark when you drag it across the back, its thick or nappe. Turn the heat off and stir in the cheese and spices.

Caramelized Onions: Cut off the top and bottom and cut in half, peel off the skin. Following the rips of the onion, cut into half moon juliennes.  In a saute pan with half butter half oil and salt over medium-low heat, begin to cook the onions.  The key here is low and slow makes the onions sweet.  If you need to turn the heat up at first to get them started, that's ok, but turn down after they start to cook.  The onions will turn a caramel color once they are done.

Acorn Squash & Granny Smith Apple:  Turn your oven onto 375 degrees F. Line 2 sheet trays with aluminum foil. Cut the top and bottom off the squash and then in half and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Lay them out on the tray and drizzle olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes on top, mix with your hands till coated and lay down flat.  For the apple: peel and seed and cut into 1/4 inch slices.  The apples with take half the time to cook.  Cook the squash till tender, approx. 20 flipping halfway through.  Once cooked, let cool slightly and peel off the squash's skin.

To Assemble:
Coat the pizza shell with cheesy Bechemel Sauce.
Evenly spread out the caramelized onions.
Then lay the Apples and finally the Acorn Squash in a spiral fan pattern around the pizza.
Sprinkle on extra Parm. cheese and bake until bubbly, maybe 5 minutes.
Top with greens that have been tossed lightly in extra virgin olive oil and s+p.
Cut and serve.
Good for 1 large pizza to share or individual pizzas for everyone.

I made it at work for a tester (this is without the fixes of brie cheese and the greens but it still tasted delicious).

And there you go... a new way to eat Acorn Squash. Can't go wrong with sweet caramelized onions, cheese sauce and roasted squash!