Thanksgiving Pizza Recipe

Thanksgiving Pizza

The menu for the day after Thanksgiving usually includes a turkey sandwich for lunch and turkey casserole or turkey soup for dinner. But this year I decided to forgo the traditional recipes and turn the leftovers from one of my favorite meals of the year into a pizza.

Our Thanksgiving day leftovers included mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, roasted vegetables, and turkey.  I pre-baked my dough and then spread on a layer of mashed potatoes. Then I added the stuffing, corn, and mixed vegetables. Next, I cut the turkey into small pieces and arranged it on top. I put the pizza back in the oven for 10 minutes, removed it, and then drizzled on some warm gravy.

Special credit goes to my mother-in-law who cooked this wonderful Thanksgiving meal and gave me the leftovers. My day after Thanksgiving pizza was like having Thanksgiving dinner all over again. The turkey remained moist, the flavors from  the apple in the stuffing popped, and the veggies were just right. I hope my Thanksigiving pizza recipe becomes an annual tradition.

Brussels Sprouts and Turkey Bacon Pizza Recipe

Brussels Sprouts and Turkey Bacon Pizza

Getting kids to eat their vegetables is not always easy. Jessica Seinfeld, author of Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food, and Missy Chase Lapine, author of The The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals, both recommend hiding vegetables in your children’s food. I have a better idea that doesn’t involve trying to trick your kids. You guessed it: put the veggies on pizza!

The veggie with the worst rap is probably Brussels sprouts. A recent CNN article reported that calling the leafy green vegetable “hero buttons” helped a mother of four get her children to like them. I don’t think you’ll even have to use a cute name if you put them on pizza, especially a pizza with cheddar cheese and turkey bacon.

This weeks pizza included my homemade pizza sauce.  I sprinkled on cheddar cheese, broken up pieces of turkey bacon, sauteed shallot, and about a dozen shredded Brussels sprouts. We eat at least one homemade pizza a week in our house and this one was a winner! Bacon and cheddar always makes for a good pizza. The addition of the Brussels sprouts was even better because we each got a serving of vegetables.

Hot Brown Pizza Recipe

Louisville, KY

The Roaring Twenties was associated with breaking traditions and modern trends. One of those trends was dancing. The Brown Hotel in Louisville Kentucky hosted more than a thousand guests each night for a dance that would last until the early hours of the morning. While the band took a break, the dancers would take the opportunity grab some food in the restaurant. Chef Fred Schmidt kept his guests interested and happy by creating the Hot Brown, an open-faced turkey sandwich, and it turned out to be a hit. The Louisville favorite has been featured in the media and is still served as  signature dish at the Brown Hotel.

There are many variations of the recipe, but I chose to follow the Brown Hotel recipe. The main alteration I made to their legendary Hot Brown recipe was to forgo the Texas toast for pizza dough of course!

I started by making the Mornay sauce, which I had never done before. I love an adventure! I melted butter, added flour for a roux, then added white wine and whisked in skim milk. While it was thickening I minced a clove of garlic and added that to the sauce. After a few minutes I stirred in a half cup of Pecorino Romano cheese. After pre-baking the dough, I spread on a thin layer of the Mornay sauce, added sliced roasted turkey, crispy turkey bacon and sliced Roma tomatoes. The Mornay sauce got nice and bubbly while it was baking and aroma of the sauce and bacon made my mouth water.

My Hot Brown pizza recipe made one of those pizzas that took me by surprise. It tasted amazing! The rich flavors of the garlic mixed with the cheese and the wine along with the meats and the tomatoes were divine. Normally I have good self control over how many slices I eat but I struggled with this one. I just wanted to keep eating! I guess that’s why they danced all night at the Brown Hotel, so they could eat more of the Hot Brown sandwich.

Chimichanga Pizza Recipe

Chimichanga Pizza

Tuscon, AZ
Tuscon natives refer to their city as the Mexican food capital of of the U.S. and one of their most popular Mexican dishes is the chimichanga. There are several claims of how the chimichanga was invented but Monica Flin’s story is most compelling. In 1922, Flin opened El Charro Cafe in Tuscon, AZ. While working in the kitchen she accidently dropped a burrito in the deep fryer. She started to curse,  but when she realized she had a young audience in the kitchen with her she said “chimichanga” instead. The fried burrito turned out to be a hit and the name stuck. El Charro Cafe is still serving their “Legendary Chimichanga” along with just about every other Mexican dish you can imagine.

Fried Tortillas

Typically, a chimichanga is prepared by filling a flour tortilla with a variety of ingredients such as shredded meats, beans, rice, and cheese. Then it is folded and dipped in a deep fryer. I figured I couldn’t fry the pizza.  That would be gross, super unhealthy and really difficult so the fun part of this project was making sure I got to the heart of the chimichanga. I decided to slice a whole wheat tortilla into thin strips and fry the strips in canola oil, then place them on the pizza after baking.

I started creating the pizza by browning ground turkey with diced onion. I mixed in La Preferida Enchilada Sauce and sliced olives, then spread the left over sauce on the pre-baked dough. Next, I sprinkled a thin layer of cheddar cheese on the sauce, topped that with the meat mixture, and lastly I sprinkled on some Mexican cheese. When the pizza was finished baking I topped it with the fried tortilla strips and chopped green onions. I served the pizza with sour cream on the side.

In the past I have made some pizzas that have been good, but I probably wouldn’t make them again. This wasn’t one of them; it was awesome! The red chili sauce tasted delicious with the ground turkey, olives and cheeses. And the fried tortillas gave the pizza that notorious chimichanga flavor, without being too unhealthy. Move over Chicken Fajita pizza, my Chimichanga pizza recipe is definitely my new favorite Mexican pizza!

#35: Turkey Burger Pizza Recipe 7/28/10

I love a good cheeseburger. Every time I drive by a Red Robin or Five Guys I want to stop. When Andrew told me that our guest for the evening, one of his classmates that is from China, really enjoys American fare, I decided it was time to put together a Cheeseburger Pizza recipe.

Having already had beef three days earlier, I wanted to go with ground turkey for this burger pizza. I added some flavor and spices to the ground turkey and sautéed it with chopped onions. I spread marinara on the dough, Monterey Jack cheese, the turkey mixture and topped it with some pickle slices. Then I turned over my creative hat to Andrew as he decorated the baked pizza with mustard and ketchup. Our turkey burger pizza with all the fixins turned out to be a hit. It definitely satisfied my burger cravings for a while!

#19: The Giant Taco Pizza Recipe 4/24/10

Giant Taco Pizza

When I was young I loved eating tacos topped with ketchup. As an adult I have discovered many other delicious Mexican recipes and I honestly can’t remember the last time I ate a regular taco. It has been a few weeks since I’ve made a “favorite meal” pizza, so tonight, taco pizza it is. There was a batch of cornmeal dough leftover from the deep-dish pizza, which is similar to the corn tortilla shells of my childhood tacos. On the dough, I slathered refried beans and layered seasoned and sautéed ground turkey and onions. As an adult, I realize how gross ketchup on tacos sounds, so for a sauce I used a mixture of Prego and salsa. I topped this giant taco with Mexican cheese and black olives. This taco pizza was piled high with great tasting toppings. It was hands-down the best taco I’ve ever eaten.

#9: Meatloaf Pizza Recipe 2/24/10

Meatloaf Pizza

My mom makes the best meatloaf! In college my roommate and I used to drive up from Geneseo just for meatloaf night. Of course, we enjoyed the company of my parents too. I made my mom’s meatloaf this past Sunday and there were plenty of leftovers. Normally I would just eat leftover meatloaf every night until it was gone because it’s just that good, but this week I decided to make meatloaf pizza.

It was difficult to figure out what type of sauce I should use with this one because marinara would be weird and what goes with meatloaf? I brushed the dough with canola oil, added mozzarella cheese and topped it with chopped meatloaf. It turned out to be a little dry but so good! You could really taste the flavors of the meatloaf and I will definitely use this recipe again next year.