As I was coming up with my meal plan for the week, I had the idea to make lasagna with sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, and kale. The more I thought about the logistics, though, the more it sounded like a bad idea. Or maybe I was just too lazy to attempt to make it. One of those things. And then it hit me--this combination would actually make a good pizza. Sweet potato pizza! So that's what I did--instead of a traditional tomato sauce base, I made a sauce with sweet potatoes and fresh sage and used caramelized onions, kale, and Fontina cheese as the topping. If you're ambitious, you can make your own crust, in which case you should probably add the kale halfway through your cooking time so it doesn't burn.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped kale
- 3 tbsp. skim milk or soymilk
- 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
- 1 prepared whole wheat pizza crust
- 1 cup shredded Fontina cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce sweet potato several times with fork and roast about 45 minutes, or until soft. Allow to cool slightly--do not turn off oven.
- While potato is baking, heat oil in medium skillet over low heat. Add onion and dash of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30-40 minutes or until just caramelized. Add kale to skillet and cook until tender and wilted. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Scoop insides of potato into medium bowl and mash; add milk, sage, and salt and combine until well-mixed and smooth. Spread mixture onto pizza crust.
- Top with half of cheese, kale and onions, and then remaining cheese. Bake pizza in oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until kale begins to crisp and cheese melts.
Nutrition (estimated per serving)
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 337kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 13gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 555mgPotassium: 238mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 6676IUVitamin C: 16mgCalcium: 229mgIron: 2mg
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Rivki Locker (Ordinary Blogger) says
This looks great. What a creative thing to do with the sweet potato. and I love that this uses prepared crust. Great week night dinner idea!
BEadECLECTIC says
You're a genius. This looks delish!!
Texas Type A Mom says
This sounds great! I wouldn't have thought the ingredients would go together so well but it looks delicious.
I'm terrible at taking food pictures - my food tastes good but I have a hard time making it pretty or photographing it well.
Scrumptious says
This is the best thing I've ever seen. You are brilliant.
All things I love. On a pizza. And the best part is I bet it will taste great even without cheese, because the sweet potato "sauce" will be so rich and creamy.
I'm planning to try making crockpot caramelized onions this week for the first time. Now I know what to do with them!
Beth Michelle says
Wow what a unique pizza! This looks amazing.
Rachel says
That looks like my dream pizza! Sweet potato on whole wheat crust and kale - yum!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! It's definitely tasty--I will seriously eat anything involving sweet potatoes and kale. 😀
Lori Popkewitz Alper says
What a creative recipe-with some of my most favorite ingredients! Anything with kale is delicious in my book.
The Type A Housewife says
I love kale too. I'm growing three different kinds in my garden this spring, so I'm thinking I will probably be posting a lot more kale recipes soon. 🙂
Jamie @ thrifty veggie mama says
We had a pizza very similar to this on our Friday night pizza night. It is one of my favs
The Type A Housewife says
It's one of our favorites too. 🙂 Actually, this post is from last year, but I updated the photo--I'm going through all of my old posts and taking new photographs because I'm neurotic like that!
Lauren @ Healthy Food For Living says
There is nothing I don't absolutely love about this pizza! (<-- don't mind the double negative there). In other words, I will absolutely be making this sometime soon!!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! I hope you like it if you make it--it's definitely one of our favorites. 🙂
baobabs says
yum! What an interesting combo! I have to try this! stunning photos too btw!! thanks for sharing! will probably put more mozzerella on top of the fontina 😀
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! And yes, I've actually had this with mozzarella cheese, so that works too. 🙂
snixykitchen says
I'm new to kale and a little nervous to try it (I've only ever made baked kale chips and they were a bit bitter). Any recommendations for first time kale cooks?
The Type A Housewife says
You know, I haven't had good luck with kale chips myself. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. They never turned out bitter, though, so it's possible that you simply had a bad batch of kale? (Supposedly the best kale is kale that's suffered through a frost or two before being harvested!)
Most of the time when I use kale, I saute it in a skillet with a small amount of olive oil. You want to wilt it a little bit, but not overcook it. And be sure to remove the tough center stem too.
Snixykitchen says
I adapted your dish and cooked kale...TWICE! And loved it! Thanks for much for the inspiration. Check out my blog to see my kale experiences.
The Type A Housewife says
Oh, I'm so glad to hear it! Honestly, I was really shocked that this recipe got the response it did because I was convinced people would think it was bizarre & unappetizing. 🙂
snixykitchen says
Here's my rendition of your sweet potato kale pizza! Thanks again for the idea! http://snixykitchen.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/whole-wheat-pizza-with-sweet-potato-sauce-kale-and-shallots
Susan says
Added a few crushed red pepper flakes. This pizza is amazing (pinned to share with others!) thanks for the inspiration!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you--I'm glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Candace says
I love everything about this pizza. Wish I had some of it for dinner tonight! Yum!
The Type A Housewife says
I wish I had some of it for dinner tonight too. 😉 This is one of those few recipes that I really just can't get enough of.
Elisa @ What the Vita says
SO DELICIOUS.. making it again for the 2nd time this week! This will definitely become a staple in our kitchen. THANK YOU!
The Type A Housewife says
Woo hoo! So glad you like it--it's one of our favorite pizzas too, if not THE favorite. 🙂
Erica says
This looks fantastic! However, I've not had luck with a SINGLE kale recipe I've tried... do you think I spinach substitution would work here?
P.S- this font is fantastic!
The Type A Housewife says
Really?! The only kale recipe I've had trouble with is kale chips. I think spinach would work just fine, though. 🙂
Amber says
this recipe is awesome i will be making it again. Thanks for a great idea. My 18 year old and husband loved it also..
The Type A Housewife says
Thanks for letting me know--I'm so glad your family enjoyed it! 🙂
Kirsten- The Foreign Domestic says
I featured your recipe on my blog today--it was soooo good! http://www.theforeigndomestic.com/2012/05/from-your-kitchen-to-mine-recipes-61-65.html
Kiersten says
Just stopped by and left a comment for you there. Thanks again for the shout out! 🙂
Marta J says
Wish I can try the pizza from the photograph- looks so mouth watering! Can imagine what a great combination with the sweetness from the charamelized onions and the sweet potatoes...:)
Kale is so boring on its own so great job on the combination!
Posting another great veg pizza recipe tomorrow with zucchini, fennel and rosemary!
Kiersten says
It's definitely a great combination! And your zucchini pizza sounds delicious too. 🙂
Kate says
I loved this recipe, though I feel like it needed two sweet potatoes. I also added manchego cheese on top, and it was fantastic.
Kiersten says
I'm glad you liked it! I guess maybe I used a larger sweet potato when I made it?
abigail says
this might just be life changing. or at the very least, the sneaky thing i've been looking for to get my boyfriend to eat vegetables!
Kiersten says
Pizzas are always a great way to sneak in some extra veggies, right? 🙂
Feast Greedily! says
Hey, I just wanted to let you know I made this pizza (with a tweak here and there for my personal tastes) and it was amazing. I made a post about it on my food blog as well. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
http://www.feastgreedily.com/ham-collard-greens-pizza-with-sweet-potato/
Kiersten says
I'm glad it turned out well--I love the idea of using collard greens on it!
Amanda says
OH. This sounds LOVELY. I'm a sweet potato fanatic. What do you think about using feta or ricotta cheese instead of the fontina? Same process layering and timing wise? What's your opinion on how it would taste with either of them?
Kiersten Frase says
Ricotta would work, but I don't think it would add very much flavor, so I'd go with feta. I haven't tried it myself (not a fan of it!), but I know other people have and it worked out for them.
Amanda says
Hi Kiersten!
So I ended up combining some of your ideas with some of my own, and it turned out so well I wanted to share!! Instead of sweet potatoes, I used an acorn squash, which I first halved and roasted in my oven. Then I scooped out the squash into my blender, added specific amounts of cayenne, ground sage, salt, pepper, and fresh garlic, and pureed it -- adding a few tblspoons of skim milk and one of plain yogurt to make the pureeing easier and balance the spiciness. I put the puree on top of some homemade naan I had made earlier that day, caramelized an onion and then cooked the kale with it until just wilted, put those over the puree, and then put dollops of ricotta on top. It was DELICIOUS!!!!! My boyfriend and I each ate 3 naan pizzas and I wished I had made more! The puree actually made more sauce than I needed, and I've been using it for the last few days in tortillas, on baked sweet potatoes...it's so yummy and versatile!
Kiersten Frase says
Thanks for the suggestions--that sounds amazing! I love making pizzas on naan too. 🙂
Danielle says
I made this over the weekend and it was AMAZING! I also made it on a cauliflower crust and it was pretty good but I do like the wheat crust better. I plan on making a quinoa crust next with it. I also added chicken sausage to it. But my favorite part was the sweet potato and caramelized onions.
Anya says
Oh my gosh, I made this tonight and it was AMAZING!!!
I don't know what it was with the flavor combo, but the sweet potato and the caramelized onion together was just divine.
I made it w shredded Daiya to make it vegan, but other than that, I stayed true. It was so good!
Oh My Veggies says
Thank you for your comment - I'm so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂