Recipe Station

I love when chef's step outside of their comfort zone and create things that push the envelope. It opens our culinary world to new things yet maintaining everything we loved about the old!

During a time of year when Turkey is king, it's nice to have a few favorites to put together that capture the flavors of the season. One of the best ways to do this is through America's favorite weekend food….Pizza!

With pizza, you are limited only by your imagination. The crust, for the most part, stays the same however where your creativity shines is in the toppings! So let's take a look at 4 pizzas that utilize the tastes of the season. Let's start off with this first one: Cranberry BBQ Turkey Pizza

For this you will need:

Ingredients:

Cranberry BBQ Sauce: 

• 6 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, more if you like it sweeter
• Zest of one navel orange
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup shallots, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke

For The Pizza Toppings:

• 4 7-ounce pizza dough balls, (choose your favorite dough recipe or store bought (total 28 ounces)
• 1½ cups Cranberry BBQ Sauce
• 1 pound leftover cooked turkey, white or dark or both, broken apart into pieces
• 4 ounces thinly sliced red onion
• 6 large Brussels sprouts, shaved thin on a mandolin
• ¾ pound sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded
• Corn meal to dust the pizza peel

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 550 degrees F and place rack in bottom oven position. Place a pizza stone on that rack.
2. Dust counter with flour and bring pizza dough balls to room temperature. Roll dough out to 10-12 inch rounds.
3. Mix ½ cup of the Cranberry Barbecue Sauce with the turkey meat and set aside.
4. Dust pizza peel with the corn meal.
5. Set one rolled out dough onto pizza peel.
6. Place one quarter of the remaining Cranberry Barbecue Sauce (1/4 cup) on the pizza dough, spreading to within a half inch of edges.
7. Place one quarter of red onion over sauce.
8. Place one quarter of shaved sprouts over onion.
9. Place one quarter of turkey over sprouts.
10. Top with one quarter of the cheese.
11. Slide pizza onto pizza stone and cook until the top is bubbly and the bottom is golden, about 6-7 minutes.
12. Remove to a cutting board and cut to serve.
13. Repeat for remaining ingredients.

Up Next: Roasted Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Pizza