Hawaiian Pizza

• 1 pizza dough – (recipe for Basic Pizza Dough)
• 1 cup Pizza Sauce – Store Bought or Recipe below
• 1 cup ham, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
• 2 cups mozzarella

Pizza Sauce

• 1 Can whole peeled tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 15 basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flake – (optional)
  

Garlic oil

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• dash of cracked pepper and kosher salt

Pizza Dough

The first step is to make the pizza dough and let it rise till it doubles.  Here is a simple and easy pizza dough. If you are running short on time, almost all grocery stores have pre-made pizza dough in the deli section.  Or, you can always stop by a local pizzaria and purchase the pre-made dough.

My pizza dough recipe makes two portions. So try some breadsticks too.

Pizza Sauce

If you are going to use a store bought pizza sauce you can skip the next couple steps.  Otherwise, pour the can of whole tomatoes into a bowl and crush with your hand, a potato masher or a pastry cutter.  Once you have all of the big chunks broken up you are good.

Now take the 15 leaves of basil and roll them together like a cigar.  Then thinly slice them into ribbons.  The technical term is chiffonade.  Sounds fancy doesn’t it.  It means breath of butterflies, joking it really only means thin long strips.  Sorry to dissappoint.

Add the chiffonade basil to the bowl with the three cloves of garlic finely minced.  Add the salt, pepper and red pepper flake.  This is a good time to taste the sauce.  If it needs more salt or pepper feel free to add it.

This sauce is tangy and works great with any pizza

Assembly

First form the pizza dough into a round pizza.

Start with the center and slowly move outward till you have the perfect size pizza.

Using a brush spread the garlic oil around the edge of the pizza.

Now evenly spread the sauce over the pizza. Then top with the 2 cups of cheese. Make sure not to use too much cheese. You want bits of red from the sauce to peep through the cheese. Then finally top with the ham and pineapple.

Place the pizza in a preheated 475 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Cook until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

This pizza is awesome.

The garlic oil makes the crust more like garlic bread.  Awesome!

Thanksgiving (Pasty) Hand Pie – makes 2 hand pies

• 2 pie crust – (Easy Pie Crust)
• 2 potatoes
• 1 cup leftover stuffing
• 1 cup leftover turkey
• 1 cup leftover gravy
• 1 cup leftover vegetable – (corn, green bean casserole, etc..)
• 4 tbs butter melted

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peel the potatoes and place them into a large pan.  Bring to a boil and partially cook the potatoes for 15 minutes.  We want the potatoes to be softened, but still hold together. Remove the potatoes from the boiling water and rinse with cold water.   When cool to the touch, dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.

Roll the dough out into 14 inch rounds.

Place 1/2 of the potatoes, turkey, stuffing and vegetable into the center of the pie dough.

Fold the pie dough over the filling and form a half-moon shaped hand pie.  Place on a greased cookie sheet or a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Cut a few vent holes in the top of the pies and then brush the tops with the melted butter.

Bake in the oven for 18-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Let cool for a minute and then plate.  Cover with warm gravy and serve.

These pies were delicious and amazing.  The diced potatoes added a nice texture to the pies.  Then topping them with gravy was amazing.  You need to try these with your leftovers.

Thanksgiving Leftovers - Potato Skin Edition

Serve with a side of gravy and you will be in heaven.

Thanksgiving Potato Skins

• 4 baking potatoes
• 1 cup leftover gravy – Plus a little extra for drizzling
• 1 cup leftover stuffing – Herb Stuffing
  
• 1 cup leftover turkey – Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
• 1 cup leftover veggies – Green bean casserole, corn, broccoli, etc.
  
• 1 cup cheddar cheese

Bake the potatoes for 45-60 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  This will allow them to be almost fully cooked.  Follow the instructions on my perfect baked potato post for instructions on baking potatoes.

The Lonely Baked Potato - If this potato only knew it would be stuffed with turkey, gravy and stuffing

Next remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  You can start to carve them out now if you like, but you will most likely burn yourself.  I totally recommend waiting.

Once the potatoes are cooled, cut them in half and scoop out the middle to form a boat.  Try to leave about a 1/4 inch of a potato on the skin.  Save the excess potato insides for breakfast potatoes.

The potato boat - Soon to be floating down a river of gravy

Layer the skins with turkey and gravy.

Turkey and gravy

Next layer on some stuffing.  Finally top with any vegetables that you may have left over.  I used corn, but any vegetable will work.

Add stuffing and any leftover veggies

Now top with cheddar cheese.  The sharper the better.

Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Place the skins back into the 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese melts and starts to turn brown.

Perfect

Serve with a side of gravy and this is an appetizer fit for a king.

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