Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from Kouzounas Kitchen. We wish you a day filled with thanks, love, and happiness.

Come join me (Kouzounas Kitchen) and Kicking Back The Pebbles, and Foodzesty for a fun event of Thanksgiving recipes and I included my “Greek” style recipes too.    **Don’t forget to check out the tasty mini lemon meringue tart recipe as well. 🍋🍋🍋

We hope you enjoy!!

Roasted Green Beans with Cheddar Cheese

Green Olive & Paprika Pepper Dip

Easy Oven Roasted Paprika Garlic Potatoes

Chestnut Mushroom Soup

Thanksgiving Greek Style

Mini Lemon Meringue Tart Recipe 

Lemon is my absolute favorite FRUIT and especially with this light flaky pie crust. Imagine a thick layer of lemon curd, with a sweet pie crust, and then a lightly torched meringue.

Serving: 6-7

Ingredients:

Prepare pie crust:

• 6 tablespoons of butter at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup of all purpose of flour
• 1 teaspoon of plain Greek yogurt

Lemon Curd:

• 1/3 cup of organic sugar
• 1 tablespoon of corn starch
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoons of lime juice
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons of butter

Meringue:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring
• Pinch of sea salt

1. Prepare the pie dough crust. Add the butter to a mixer and beat until smooth.
2. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla and mix to combine. With a spatula scrape the sides down and then add the egg yolks.
3. Add the flour and sour cream to the mixer while mixer is running. Mix to combine then turn off machine. You do not want to overmix the dough but have it come together.
4. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.
5. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 1 hour.

Prepare the lemon curd filling:

1. In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, and sugar to combine. Add to a medium pan and cook over medium heat until mixture is smooth.
2. Add the lemon, juice, and lemon zest to pan and cook for 3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and smooth. The mixture will be ready once the lemon curd is thick and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
3. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Whisk the butter in to make the mixture smooth. You can prepare a ice bath which is a bowl filled with ice. Place the bowl with lemon curd over the ice bath bowl.

Prepare tart dough:

1. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut out 7 mini tarts. You want the tart to be 1/2 inch in diameter. Place the tarts into a lightly greased muffin pan. (I use a 6 serving muffin pan, and then you will have to bake 1 by itself or just make enough for 6.)
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Bake pie crust for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool. Once tarts are slightly cool remove from pan, and place on wired rack.

Prepare Meringue: 

1. Add sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt into a large mixing bowl and then whisk on high until you reach stiff peaks. (It took me between 8-10 minutes to reach stiff peaks.) Just be patient and make sure meringue holds. You can test by picking up the whisk and putting it upside down.
2. The meringue should be stiff and not fall. Since these are small you can just add about a heaping tablespoon of the meringue over each pie. Typically I would pipe meringue but these are so tiny its easier to use a spoon to add meringue. Once meringue is prepared over the tarts, torch the top until you have a  nice golden brown color. If you don’t have a kitchen torch, bake tarts in oven at broil for only a minute or two but make sure to keep an eye so you do not burn them.

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!!