Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Thanksgiving combines two of my favorite things: food and family. There's nothing like sitting around the table and sharing a delicious meal with those you are closest to.

While, I do not host a Thanksgiving dinner. I do have three family thanksgiving dinners to attend. I'll be making pies and side dishes for all three of them! I don't have a large repertoire on my blog yet, but I thought I'd share a few of my Thanksgiving recipes.

No Thanksgiving is complete without a pie. Here is my go to pie crust recipe:

Pie Crust

Making pumpkin pie and want to make your own pumpkin puree? It's so easy!

Pumpkin Puree 

This is the traditional pie recipe that I use:

Pumpkin Pie

Or maybe you prefer to be nontraditional and skip the pie. Here is a delicious recipe for pumpkin roll.

Pumpkin Roll

I recently tried this pumpkin pie recipe and it was superb!

This is my favorite recipe for stuffing. It can be prepared  a day ahead and refrigerated until you're ready to bake it.

Need a way to use up leftover stuffing? Try it with my chicken and stuffing casserole.

Baked Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

French Bread Pepperoni Pizza

Need a quick dinner idea? Love pizza, but don't have the time to make a homemade crust? Try this quick and easy French bread pizza. 

I posted a recipe for my homemade pizza sauce last week so I figured I needed to post a recipe that you can use it for! Growing up, my mom would occasionally make us this French bread pizza. It's super simple and you don't have to deal with the hassle of making a crust.

I for one, love a good homemade pizza crust but I don't always have time to make the bread dough. For a good pizza, in a short amount of time, I will whip out one of these French bread pizzas.

It's so simple: pick up a loaf of French bread at your supermarket's bakery, slice it lengthwise in half, brush with a little olive oil, toast it for a few minutes in the oven, add your toppings, pop back in the oven and bake until cheese is bubbly and bread is golden.

Simple right?

French Bread Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of French bread
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pizza Sauce 
• 4-6 ounces of mozzarella, shredded
• Pepperoni

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice French bread in half lengthwise. Place onto a rimmed baking sheet (I usually brush a little olive oil onto the pan underneath the bread). Brush the tops of the bread with a little olive oil. Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes.

2. Top French loaves with pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. Return to oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Cool for 5 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

Note: Pizza can be made with a variety of toppings. If using additional cheese or toppings, hollow out a little bit of the loaf so that it can hold all of the toppings.

Pizza Sauce

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Homemade pizza sauce: fresh, tasty, and ready in less than 30 minutes!

I love a good, homemade pizza. The most important thing next to the crust is the sauce. I'm one of those that likes a good amount of sauce on my pizza. If it doesn't have enough, I need a little extra for dipping.

It really only takes a few good ingredients to make an excellent sauce: crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flake, basil, and oregano. I've included the measurements for both dry and fresh herbs. Just remember, if using dry herbs: add them to the sauce at the beginning of the simmering stage. Dry herbs can withstand longer cooking times and actually need the simmering time to bloom their flavors. Fresh herbs are more fragile and need to be added at the very end to preserve the fresh flavor and appearance.

I actually took a little hiatus from making my homemade pizza sauce, until recently. I found a store bought brand that actually tasted pretty close to homemade. It became my favorite sauce until recently when our grocery store stopped carrying it! Of course, that always happens when I find something I really like. It's okay, homemade sauce is always best. Plus, this recipe is easy to make ahead and freezes really well.This recipe makes the equivalent of two jars of the other sauce I was using. I generally use half of this sauce for our pizza and freeze an extra jar for a future use.


Homemade Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a large onion, diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped finely
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, or 3 teaspoons of fresh basil
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
• 1-28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 teaspoon fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a medium size saucepan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add finely chopped onions, and saute for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flake and saute for about 1 minutes or until fragrant. Adjust heat to medium/low and add crushed tomatoes. Stir in sugar, basil (if using fresh, add at the very end), salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened.

2. Allow sauce to sit uncovered for 10 minutes to cool slightly before using. Sauce will thicken slightly as it stands. Use immediately for pizza or cool completely and store in jars in refrigerator or freezer.

From Tasteful Cuisine

Need some tips on preserving oregano and other herbs? Now is the time to start harvesting your herbs for winter!

Preserving Fresh Herbs