Every week, I get a box of yummy, farm-fresh vegetables (courtesy of CSA) delivered to my doorstep. When figuring out what to do with them, I inevitably start thinking “how can I make this into a pizza?” (I eat a lot of pizza – like here and even here). This recipe hit the spot for a warm winter comfort food. Make it just like this recipe or with whatever winter veggies you have around.

Ingredients
1 yam or sweet potato
1 package pizza dough, room temperature
1 bunch of fresh basil (15-20 leaves)
½ cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 oz Tillamook Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
Tillamook Salted Butter
¼ yellow onion (preferably a Walla Walla onion)
½ red bell pepper
Garlic
Arugula (or any green leafy vegetable)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Slice yams into ⅛ inch discs, and cover in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and bake until just tender (about 10 minutes).

Spread room temperature pizza dough on a salted and oiled pizza stone or baking pan and poke holes with a fork so it doesn’t bubble up. Bake for 6 or 7 minutes, or until dough just starts to harden (this will help keep it from getting soggy later!). You can do this at the same time as the yams. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce for the pizza by blending basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a ½ cup of Shredded Italian Blend Cheese in a food processor.

Melt butter in a large frying pan. Slice onions and bell peppers, then cook slowly over medium heat with loosely chopped garlic until onions just start to brown, then set aside.

When pizza dough is ready (when it’s about half cooked), spread the sauce evenly on the top. Spread yams evenly (like you would with pepperoni). Spread arugula over this, then top with onions and bell peppers. Top it all off with a giant handful of your Shredded Italian Blend Cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

By Katie

We all know the holidays season is full of traditions, like oohing and ahhing over Dad’s lights and making Thanksgiving Pizza (in my family at least!). We looked in the Tillamook archives and found a Tillamook tradition all the way from the 1940’s – a recipe for “Redhot Toast”!

Redhot Toast
8 servings

2½ cups (1 large can) tomatoes
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
6 cloves
2 dried chili peppers
Few celery tops
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons shortening
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Tillamook Cheese, grated
8 slices toast

Simmer tomatoes, water, seasonings, and vegetables in a covered saucepan for 1 hour. Put through a sieve. Thicken with mixture of the melted shortening, flour, salt, and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add Tillamook Cheese. Serve on toast.

What do you think of this recipe? I love seeing how recipes and traditions change over the years! For more vintage recipes from Tillamook, check out this recipe for Fried Seafood Squares or a few from a recipe booklet from all the way back in 1934.

By Katie

I love Oregon, the home to scrumptious Tillamook Cheese! I also love pizza! To express my love for both the state and the food I created the Mushrooms Love Oregon Pizza. It turns out, when you combine delicious Oregon ingredients on one pizza, a masterpiece is created.

Ingredients
Pizza dough
Marinera sauce
Tillamook Shredded Mozzarella
Oregon mushrooms
Sliced olives
Broccoli

For this ode to Oregon pizza, I placed the marinera sauce on top of the pizza dough, then covered it in Oregon’s own Tillamook Shredded Mozzarella I went to the grocery store and collected three different types of Oregon mushrooms. I used Morel, Porcini, and Chanterelle, but you can use any Oregon mushrooms available to you. I then added black olives and yes, I know! They aren’t from Oregon but they go so well with mushrooms on pizza and I couldn’t help myself! I topped things off with some home grown broccoli right out of the Oregon soil and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese was melty and gooey and the crust was light brown.

I tipped my hat to the great state of Oregon and enjoyed my pizza. What would you put on an Oregon inspired pizza?

By Kelly

Well, it’s done. The green beans have been devoured, the Pumpkin Ice Cream has mysteriously disappeared and the tryptophan has left your blood stream. But you open the refrigerator and what do you see? LEFTOVERS! Why not combine them into one yummy dish? Turkey Pizza is something my parents created years ago to try to trick a picky-eater (sorry Mom) into eating Thanksgiving food. But now we’ve modified it to take care of all our lingering leftovers in a tasty way.

TURKEY PIZZA

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 ½ cups turkey gravy (either from a jar or from the turkey)
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup leftover stuffing
1 cup cooked and shredded turkey meat
1 cup Tillamook Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing (optional)
1/2 cup cranberry sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) or whatever is recommended on your pizza dough. Roll out the pizza dough, place onto a pizza pan or other baking sheet, and spread 1 cup of gravy over the top of the pizza using the back of a spoon. Spoon the potatoes onto the pizza, in little clumps. Arrange stuffing and turkey on top and spread evenly over the whole pizza. Top with cheese.

Cover pizza with aluminum foil (to protect the turkey from drying out). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is browned and center is cooked through. Serve with a side of ranch dressing or with dollops of cranberry sauce.

The great part about this recipe is that anything goes! If your family is like mine, and someone has already picked away at the stuffing, sub it out for green beans. If you’re out of gravy, a layer of cranberry sauce could serve as a tasty base. Play around with it and share with us your favorite combination!

Do you have any turkey leftover traditions to share?

~ Katie of the Tillamook Team

Photo: Amy – Cutting Coupons in KC

By Katie

Mozzarella Cheese is traditionally the cheese put on pizza, but in honor of Cheese Pizza Day we decided to put other varieties of Tillamook Cheese to the test. Get your pizza dough and sauce ready!

The line-up of cheese included Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with four cheeses (Medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Queso Quesadilla & Asadero Cheese), Tillamook Shredded Italian Blend with two cheeses (Mozzarella & Parmesan Cheese), and last but not least, Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with two cheeses (Pepper Jack & Medium Cheddar Cheese).

All of the cheese on a pizza pan!

The first pizza we made was with Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with four cheeses.

We were delighted that even when melted together, you could taste all of the different cheeses on this pizza!

Next we made a cheese pizza with the Tillamook Shredded Italian Blend.

It was very tasty, but the cheese got a bit harder on top than the other pizzas did. We could have cooked it too long, but we recommend using this cheese when you are making a pizza with lots of toppings!

And finally, we made a pizza with Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with two cheeses.

The Pepper Jack and Medium Cheddar are the perfect combination of flavors and textures for a pizza.

Did the pizzas pass our test? Yes! In fact, all of them were delicious, but if you’re looking to a make a cheese pizza with something other than Mozzarella, the Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with Pepper Jack and Medium Cheddar was our top pick.

We could barely wait to dive in! The pizza that used Tillamook Shredded Mexican Blend with Pepper Jack and Medium Cheddar Cheese was in our bellies in a matter of minutes.

What cheese makes your favorite cheese pizza?

By Laura

Grilled Pizza with Red Onion and Tillamook Smoked Cheddar Cheese

Dough, a few toppings, and cheese should be the ingredients of your next BBQ! Although grilling pizza may be new territory for some, in my opinion, it’s one of the best ways to prepare a pizza. I can’t think of a better way of celebrating National Grilling Month (July) than trying a new technique on the grill! It takes a little getting used to, but the way it all comes together with the melted cheese and fiery flavor is de-lic-ious.

Grilled Pizza with Red Onion and Tillamook Smoked Cheddar Cheese
Anstey Healy

Ingredients:

1 medium red onion, cut into ½ inch slices (do not separate into rings until after cooking)
12 ounces purchased pizza dough, divided into 4 pieces
Flour for rolling dough
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 cup (4 ounces) Tillamook Smoked Medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Special Equipment:

Small-holed grill rack, wooden pizza peel or baking sheet, tongs

Instructions:

Prepare grill to cook over indirect heat by placing coals to one side or if using a gas grill, turn one set of burners on low. Preheat grill to high.

Lightly brush both sides of onions slices with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on small-holed rack over direct heat and cook, turning as necessary until soft, about 6-7 minutes. Remove onions from small-holed rack and let cool. Separate rings. Move grill rack to indirect side of grill.

On lightly floured work surface, roll dough piece into a thin round about 6 inches in diameter. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover with clean kitchen towel until ready to use.

Place one dough round on a lightly floured wooden pizza peel or back of baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil, season with salt. Top with ¼ of cooked onion rings and 1 teaspoon thyme. Sprinkle ¼ of cheese evenly on top.

By Laura