On Using Leftover Pizza

"When the moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's amore" 
Dean Martin - That's Amore

I think just about everyone loves pizza.  It's the favorite go to dinner when your to busy to cook or for all those kid parties.  Often there is leftover. What to do with it?  You could just heat it up again, but somehow it's never as good.  We encountered this problem recently and this is what I did.  I made a Strata which is basically a bread pudding type thing.  

Now as luck would have it, I also had some leftover spinach.  The great thing about this kind of dish is that you can add whatever you like or happen to have on hand that goes together.  So here is the basic recipe which you can tweak any way you like.

You will need:

• Leftover pizza cut into cubes - about 4 cups worth
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk (or half milk, half cream or whatever propotions you like)
• some veggies - spinach, broccoli or whatever you like
• About a cup of cheese - mozzarella, cheddar - again whatever you want or have on hand

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 2 quart casserole dish.  Put the cut up pizza and veggies in the dish.  Beat the eggs and then add the milk to the eggs and mix a little more.  Pour the milk and egg mixture into the casserole.  It's best if you let the mixture sit for at least half an hour or longer so the pizza can soak up some of the liquid.  Sprinkle the cheese on top right before you put it in the oven.  Bake 45 to 60 minutes until the eggs are cooked though and the cheese nice and melty.

I served this with a simple salad and it made a yummy dinner!

Another great thing about a recipe like this is that you can vary it so many ways.  You can use leftover French or Italian bread instead of pizza, add leftover meats like ham or sausage, use up those little bits of leftover veggies and add you favorite cheese.

Have a fun day!
Cynthia