On Windows 11 Pro now, but should be essentially the same AFAICR:
Open Settings, search for "recent".
It should find something along the lines of "Show recently opened items in Start, Jump Lists, and File Explorer".
You can then disable it.
EtA: Checked on a W10 Home machine, the item has a slightly different name, and can be found in "Start" page of Settings (searching for "recent" will bring it up)