Thanksgiving Pizza

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Thanksgiving pizza with cranberry sauce, provolone, turkey breast, Brussels sprouts, and onion marmalade

Pie of the Week #10, 11, and 12

I really miss the large family thanksgiving meals we used to have. Seriously – we rented a school so we could fit everyone in! In just a few short years, it shrunk enough to fit in the second floor community room at Grandma’s retirement/assisted living place. Then, suddenly, completely gone.

The last few years, though, have replaced it with a more intimate gathering. Just my wife and me, going to my Mom’s to make something fun. Occasionally we’ll add in a friend without other plans – this year we had a friend and her child join us. We’ve done a whole turkey and all the fixings, chicken and noodles (a tradition borrowed from my Dad’s side/great aunt), Detroit style pizza, and more. This year, I brought over the Roccbox, and we did Thanksgiving pizzas.

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Ground Beef Ragu

Ragu Calzone
A ragu is an Italian sauce or stew, made with tomatoes, ground meat, vegetables, and wine, and cooked for a very long time.  Blognese sauce is a variation on a ragu that most of us are familiar with – though, in that case, a specific regional variation that is a bit heavier on tomato than most.

Ragus are frequently used with pasta, especially spaghetti.  But they can go on just about anything.  Or, in the case of this week’s Pie of the Week, in anything, or at least a calzone.  They are rich, hearty, and full of flavor!
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Paluk ki Dal Pizza

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Dal and Spinach Pizza

Pie of the Week #7

A couple of folks at the farmers’ market mentioned they were enjoying following my pizza journey, but noticed I had not posted a Pie of the Week on my blog yet.  Never fear: I’m still making farm to flame pizzas every week!  Our internet was down for over two weeks, so I’m pre-dating this post back to when it should have been made.  Rural internet: it’s slow and unreliable, but at least it’s expensive!

But, Pie of the Week #7 was another one inspired by my love of the Indian buffet…  In particular, I love the various dals.  For those who have yet to fall in love with Indian food, dal refers to both an ingredient and a dish. There are many of both.  Dal the ingredient is a lentil or split pea, or a similar small bean.  Dal the dish is a richly spiced stew made from dal the ingredient, cooked until it begins to break down. They have wonderfully rich flavors, that blend well with all of the runny sauces from the other dishes you pile on your buffet plate.  And, the best way to eat them is by using naan, an Indian flatbread, as an edible shovel.  What is pizza, but an already-filled flatbread shovel? So, dal pizza it is!

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