Jack-o'-Lantern Pizzas for Halloween

Celebrate spooky season with pumpkin-shaped jack-o'-lantern pizzas! Here, you'll find instructions for four different face ideas, ranging from super-simple pepperoni to slightly more complicated blanched kale. Use any sauce and cheese you like, experiment with other toppings/designs, and make them with family and/or friends. Let the pizz-o'-lantern bake-off begin!

Jack-o'-Lantern Pizza Ingredients

For this post, I made four personal-size pizz-o'-lanterns with different sauces and faces. If you're making this on a weeknight, though, you might want to stick with one or two different sauce-cheese-face options in the spirit of simplicity.

Here's what you need to get started:

• Pizza dough. Make one full recipe (I used 1-Hour Dough, but any one of these will work great) or buy two premade dough balls from the refrigerated section of your grocery store. You'll need two regular-size (14- to 16-ounce) balls of dough to make four 6-inch jack-o'-lantern pizzas. Divide each ball in half, ball up the pieces, and let them rest under an upside-down bowl while you preheat the oven and prep the rest of the ingredients.
• Sauce. You can't go wrong with marinara, slow-simmered pizza sauce, or store-bought pizza sauce. Other options: Pesto, herb oil, or Pumpkin Pizza Sauce.
• Cheese. Shredded low-moisture mozzarella works for most combinations. I also used shredded Gruyere cheese for my pumpkin sauce and kale face pizza-o'-lantern. Choose a cheese that can be shredded and spread out evenly so the faces stay in place.
• Toppings for the faces. I made my faces out of green bell pepper, jarred roasted red peppers, blanched kale, and thinly sliced sandwich-style (3-inch) pepperoni. Stand in front of the produce aisle, imagining which vegetables are or could be pliable and thin enough to be flattened out and cut into triangles and toothless grins, and no doubt you'll come up with even better/more creative ideas. (What about portobello and cremini mushrooms, olives, grilled or roasted zucchini, other dark-colored cured meats, or blanched red cabbage?)

Step-By-Step Directions

1. Preheat the oven and prep your dough, sauce, and cheese.
2. Make faces.
   • Blanch cabbage or leafy greens in boiling water for 2-ish minutes, shock them in a bowl of ice water to lock in their color, then drain and pat them dry. Take whole roasted red peppers out of the jar, cut them open on one side, open them up on a cutting board, and pat them dry on both sides with paper towels. Hold bell peppers by their stems on your cutting board, then cut downward from the stem, separating the flesh from the stem and seeds in big planks. If the bell pepper seems too thick to carve easily, lay the planks flat on the cutting board and cut them horizontally into thinner pieces. Lay slices of pepperoni or other cured meats on the cutting board.
   • Once the jack-o'-lantern pizza toppings are prepped and laid flat, cut eyes, noses, and mouths. (Keep it traditional or scroll this HGTV post for inspiration.)
3. Roll out and cut the dough into pumpkin shapes. Stretch or roll out each dough piece into a 6-inch round or oval. Next, decide where you want the top of your pumpkins to be and use a sharp paring knife to cut a stem into each one. (See the recipe video below if you need a visual of this.) Cover the formed dough pieces with damp kitchen towels so they don't dry out while you bake the first batch.
4. Assemble and bake the pizza jack-o'-lanterns.
   • Put a dough pizza on a floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel) or on a dark-colored pizza pan or baking sheet (you can fit two pizz-o'-lanterns on a large baking sheet). Spread with sauce, sprinkle with shredded cheese, and arrange your jack-o'-lantern face on top. If your face is made of vegetables, brush the pieces with a little olive oil to keep them from burning.
   • Finally, transfer the topped pumpkin-shaped dough to the oven and bake as directed below.

Looking for more Halloween pizza ideas? Check out these other spooky creations:

• Ghost and Eyeball Pizzas
• Spider Web Pizza
• Mummy Pizza Braids

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Jack-o'-Lantern Pumpkin Pizzas

Celebrate spooky season with pumpkin-shaped jack-o'-lantern pizzas! Here, you'll find instructions for four different face ideas, ranging from super-simple pepperoni to slightly more complicated blanched kale. Use any sauce and cheese you like, experiment with other toppings and designs, and make them with family and/or friends. May the most creative pizz-o'-lantern win!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword: Halloween pizza, holiday recipe

Makes: 4 (6-inch) pizzas

Cost: $15

Equipment

• Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
• Pizza peel (optional)
• Rolling pin (optional)
• Cutting board and knife

Ingredients

• 1 full recipe pizza dough or two balls premade pizza dough
• 1 to 1¼ cups marinara, pesto sauce, pumpkin sauce, or other sauce of choice
• 1 to 1½ cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella or cheese of choice

Face design materials

• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 or 3 leaves lacinato kale, curly green kale, or red cabbage
• 2 whole jarred roasted red peppers
• 2 to 4 thin slices deli-style (3- to 4-inch-diameter) pepperoni

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450°F (if using a baking sheet) or 500°F (if using a baking stone/steel) with a rack set in the middle position; if you're using a stone/steel, place it on the oven rack before you start preheating.
• Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface, and cut each ball in half (to make 4 smaller balls total). Cover the dough balls with an upside-down bowl or container while you prep the toppings.

To make the jack-o'-lantern faces (see recipe video)

• If using green bell pepper: On a cutting board, hold the pepper upright by its stem and cut the flesh away from the stem and seeds in wide planks. If the pepper flesh is very thick, lay it flat on your cutting board, skin-side up, and slice it horizontally. Use a sharp paring knife to cut out eyes, a nose, and a funny/scary grin.
• If using kale or cabbage: Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water and place it near the stove. Drop the leaves into the boiling water and blanch them for 1½ to 2 minutes, then grab them with tongs and put them right in the ice water to lock in their bright color. Drain, pat dry, and use a sharp paring knife to cut out eyes, a nose, and a funny/scary grin.
• If using roasted red peppers: Cut a slit down one long side of each pepper, open it like a book, lay it flat on a cutting board, and pat both sides dry with paper towels. Use a sharp paring knife to cut out eyes, a nose, and a funny/scary grin.
• If using pepperoni: Lay the pepperoni slices on a cutting board and use a sharp paring knife to cut out eyes, a nose, and a funny/scary grin.

To bake the pizzas

• Working one at a time, stretch or roll a dough ball into a 6-inch round or oval. (If you're using a large baking sheet, you might be able to fit two at a time.) Use a sharp paring knife to cut a stem into the top of each (as shown in the recipe video below).
• Place one piece of pumpkin-shaped dough on a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel) or heavy-duty, dark-colored baking sheet or pizza pan (two should fit on a large baking sheet). Top with sauce, cheese, and your jack-o'-lantern face(s). If you're using green bell pepper, roasted red pepper, or kale/cabbage faces, brush the tops of the vegetable shapes with olive oil to prevent them from burning.
• Transfer the pizza(s) to the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes (on a baking sheet) or about 8 minutes (on a baking stone/steel), until the bottom is evenly browned and the cheese has browned in spots.
• Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings.

Video