I’m preparing many autumn recipes and this Pumpkin and Chicken and Turkey Sausage Focaccia is part of the Pumpkin Recipes Collection that I published a few days ago for you.
I often come home late from work and have gotten into the habit of keeping a ready-made focaccia base in the fridge so I can make a quick and tasty dinner easily.
An economical and quick solution to prepare a good focaccia with seasonal ingredients or those we have available in the fridge. Often I have leftover vegetables, cold cuts, and cheeses and take advantage of them to fill the focaccias differently each time.
I propose this version of the Pumpkin and Sausage Focaccia because I have prepared it specifically for the blog. Indeed, unlike others I prepare without photographing or recording the video recipe for you, it is deliberately composed and prepared for the blog and therefore for you who are here with me in my kitchen every day!
Below are the other recipes I have prepared over time using pumpkin as the main ingredient. You will find pumpkin and cinnamon cookies, muffins with pumpkin batter, and even the cake to which I added carrots. Then there are the Gnocchi with pumpkin, speck, and pistachios, and to finish, the roll with pumpkin cream and speck. Many ideas to try during the autumn and winter.
Before moving on to the recipe, I want to remind you that I wait for you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day! An unmissable moment of the day to wish each other good morning and share the recipe. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you will find the New Recipe here on the blog and on the social profiles.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Autumn, Winter
- Energy 492.17 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 59.52 (g) of which sugars 4.46 (g)
- Proteins 19.63 (g)
- Fat 18.15 (g) of which saturated 1.67 (g)of which unsaturated 3.68 (g)
- Fibers 6.64 (g)
- Sodium 548.57 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 250 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Pumpkin and Sausage Focaccia
- 1 roll ready-made focaccia base (either round or rectangular is fine for this recipe)
- 5.3 oz pumpkin
- 3.5 oz chicken sausage (and turkey in my case)
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
Tools for Pumpkin and Sausage Focaccia Recipe
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking Tray
- 1 Parchment Paper
- 1 Oven
- 1 Fork
Pumpkin and Sausage Focaccia Recipe Steps
Take the ready-made focaccia base from the fridge and let it reach room temperature on the work surface while you prepare the other ingredients.
Preheat the oven in static mode to a maximum of 356-374 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not follow the 392-428 degrees Fahrenheit indication on the package, as that temperature is needed to cook the base as plain focaccia and not as stuffed focaccia, which requires more cooking time and a lower temperature.
Cut the Mantovana pumpkin, or another type of pumpkin of your choice, into not-too-large cubes after removing the outer skin and the internal seeds. If you watch the video recipe below the first photo, you’ll understand that my Mantovana pumpkin is defrosted. I always keep a certain amount in the freezer because I love this ingredient and never want to be without it. Therefore, in the video, you can see that it loses water while I cut it; I should have squeezed it better before proceeding with the knife.
Then cut the chicken and turkey sausage, or if you prefer a classic sausage or a salamella, into not-too-large cubes. Be sure to remove the casing from the sausage.
Unroll the focaccia base and place it on a baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper as a base. Use your fingertips to apply light pressure on the surface, as we always do with focaccia dough. Arrange the pumpkin and sausage cubes here and there on the focaccia. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Also add some rosemary leaves and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Then bake the pumpkin and sausage focaccia and cook for about 15 minutes.
After this time, take the baking tray out of the oven and use a fork and a knife to cut and spread the now soft and more easily malleable pumpkin and sausage cubes. You’ll see that the pumpkin will be almost a cream. If you can’t cut the sausage with the knife and fork, you can use the tips of scissors as I eventually did to avoid puncturing the focaccia base.
Place the focaccia back in the oven and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so without changing the oven temperature.
After this final cooking time, we will be ready to enjoy the pumpkin and sausage focaccia. I wish you bon appétit and wait for you here on my blog with the new recipe every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Tips and Recipe Variations
You can vary the type of sausage for this recipe; I chose chicken and turkey because it’s lighter compared to the classic or salamella. Of course, it also depends on your tastes and the region where you live. I recommend not overdoing it with salt and pepper if the sausage you choose is very salty and peppery.
I can recommend preparing the Pumpkin and Sausage Focaccia just before serving it, since it’s a ready-made base and will be crunchy only when freshly baked, then it might soften and not have the same texture. The recipe is very simple, quick, and therefore perfect to be prepared and served within 30 minutes. This will allow us to enjoy a crispy and tasty focaccia whenever we want. Think of all the times we arrive late for dinner and don’t have time to knead even the focaccia base.
