Pizza is one of the most perfect foods ever created. My roommate has opened my eyes to this. In our recent cross country road trip/13-state-pizzathon, the boundaries of what is and is not pizza was challenged. At one point, I wondered if I’d ever enjoy Pizza again. However, this recipe proves that pizza is a fighter. You think it’s down for the count and then it comes roaring back, like a vicious pizza tiger. I was ready to give up on pizza, but pizza wasn’t ready to give up on me!
I think we came up with this idea somewhere after our stop in Bozeman Montana. Thanksgiving Pizza. It’s everything we love about fall and thanksgiving in one our favorite formats: Pizza. I suppose you can make this with Thanksgiving leftovers, but since it’s September, waiting didn’t make much sense.
You'll need:
1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes
1 cup of green beans
6 oz fresh mozzarella
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/2 a purple onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced (feel free to adjust if you like less garlic)
1/4 cup of cornmeal
1 package of frozen/refrigerated pizza crust at room temperature
1 package of frozen/refrigerated pizza crust at room temperature
1/2 package of tofurkey slices, or sliced quorn roast (you can use real turkey if you're not of the veggie persuasion)
1/2 cup of cooked, sweetened cranberries
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of warm water
Pre-heat your oven to 375. Take your dough, I bough mine from Trader Joe’s, but I’m sure you can make it from scratch if you feel so inclined, and roll it out on a lightly cornmealed surface. You can use flour, but cornmeal adds an extra crunch that worked really well with this recipe.
Once the dough is the desired shape and thickness, take a fork and poke holes in the dough to break any air bubbles that may form while cooking. Coat the pizza sheet or other baking pan you plan on using with more cornmeal. Place dough on pan and bake for 10-12 minutes.
The first layer was garlic mashed potatoes. These were made from scratch. 2lbs of unpeeled redskin potatoes, mashed with butter and cream cheese and a little soy milk to thin them out. Garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Once the crust is partially cooked, spread a thick layer of potatoes. Place the potato layered crust back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes.
Slice your quorn or tofurkey roast thinly. It’s not yet tofurkey,quorn roast season, so I got the Tofurkey deli slices instead.
Take the pizza out and add the tofurkey, fresh or frozen (thawed) green beans, fresh mozzarella, and cooked sweetened cranberries (again I got the frozen Trader Joe’s kind). Put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
While it’s cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan. Sauté chopped purple onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Add ½ a cup of water. Let simmer. Slowly stir in 2 tablespoons of flour until the sauce is thick. Continue to stir until sauce is thoroughly heated.
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Once the pizza is ready, drizzle a layer of mushroom sauce on top. This pizza is best served with a pumpkin ale, or nut brown ale. I'd suggest Fat Squirrel, brewed by New Glarus Brewing Company.
