Deep Dish Easter Leftovers Pizza

A deep dish pizza with ham, green beans and sweet potatoes sandwiched between a mashed potato-spread pizza crust and a layer of provolone cheese. Turn those leftovers into a Friday Night Pizza!

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You may be wondering why, the day after Thanksgiving, I'm talking about Easter. It's quite simple--last year we had multiple Thanksgiving celebrations and I ended up with leftovers of both ham and turkey. I used the turkey, cranberry, and stuffing in my Deep Dish Thanksgiving Leftovers Pizza and made a different version with ham & green beans. I'm calling it Easter Leftovers Pizza because for Easter we usually serve ham, green beans, sweet potatoes and of course no holiday is complete without MA's Make Ahead Irish Mashed Potato Casserole.

Finding ways to repurpose your leftovers into something the family will enjoy is one way to reduce food waste. For more ways, please check out my Food For Thought--Reducing Food Waste post.

I must say I preferred this pizza, with ham & Alanna's World's Best Green Bean Casserole, to the turkey, cranberry, and stuffing version. I'm not sure why, taste is subjective after all. Perhaps it's because I just really love my turkey leftovers in sandwiches spread with Cranberry Salsa.

As an aside, I had my first Thanksgiving Leftovers sandwich last night, on a Buttermilk Potato Roll--recipe from Donna Currie's Make Ahead Bread: 100 Recipes for Bake-It-When-You-Want-It Yeast Breads (Amazon affiliate link) spread with both cranberry salsa and sweet potato casserole. Yum. This book was an early birthday present to me from my daughter, and I'm really looking forward to baking more from it. Consider it as a Christmas gift for the baker--or wannabe baker--in your life!

For more pizza recipes, arranged in categories like Pizza Dough recipes, Savory Pizzas with Fruit, Pizzas with Meat and Vegetarian Pizzas, all alphabetical with thumbnail photos because that's how I roll--please check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index. I've also got a Friday Night Pizza Night board on Pinterest, if you follow me there. I suppose I ought to include here that I'm now on Instagram. And, as ever, I'm sharing stuff that catches my eye on my FB page. Would you like to know how to Use This Blog best? 

Deep Dish Thanksgiving Leftovers Pizza

Thanksgiving leftovers (turkey, cranberry, stuffing and sides) tucked under a blanket of colby jack cheese for a deep dish pizza version of the traditional leftover bake.

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I've been sharing Thanksgiving recipes lately, including my Round Up of Thanksgiving Recipe Round Ups (that is a mouthful, in oh so many ways). As much as I adore a table full of side dishes, that means there are inevitably leftovers.

My favorite way to have Thanksgiving is to enjoy the main meal midday, then let everyone fix a plate of leftovers for dinner. Subsequent days bring turkey sandwiches, perhaps on a Multigrain Cereal Bun spread with Cranberry Salsa. But my current favorite way to enjoy leftovers the day after Thanksgiving is in a deep dish pizza.

Even though I suck at planning out weekly menus, having a routine Friday Night Pizza Night means I know what's coming up at least. After I learned How Not To Make Lou Malnati's Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza I got creative trying other methods. My deep dish pizza confidence grew to the point that I made 2 versions of post-Thanksgiving deep dish pizzas. Here's the first one.

This pizza has a bit of nearly every Thanksgiving side, in small spoonfuls scattered across a base of mashed potato-spread pizza dough. As I'm glad to eat everything together, this is a fun way to do that while making the most of the veggies that our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers put their heart and soul into producing.

Whole Wheat & Parmesan Pizza Crust from Make Ahead Bread

Trigger warning: carbs. Lots of them. In oh so delicious ways. (insert Homer Simpson noises)

A pizza crust chock full of flavor from parmesan cheese, with a great chewy texture thanks to the addition of whole wheat flour. This recipe is made in stages, so when you've got a couple small chunks of time you'll end up with easy homemade pizza.

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When I am invited to spread the word about a new cookbook I am not encouraged to randomly share any old recipe that strikes my fancy from the book. Instead, publishers give us bloggers an approved selection of recipes and ask us to pick from that list. If there's a recipe using a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share-sourced ingredient, or something that fits with my blog and appeals to my family, I'm glad to participate.

Last time I shared a brand new cookbook all about macaroni and cheese called Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese (Amazon affiliate link). I did so because I could use a farm share pumpkin, filled with macaroni and cheese, as a recipe. That was a fun challenge and amazingly delicious. The flavor combo was so inspiring I went on to share 2 more variations on that theme, Macaroni and Cheese with Beet Greens, Ham and Manchego and Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Winter Squash.

Today, and for my next post, I am sharing recipes from Donna Currie's book Make Ahead Bread: 100 Recipes for Melt-in-Your-Mouth Fresh Bread Every Day(Amazon affiliate link) in honor of the first anniversary of publication.

Looking through the assortment of publisher-selected recipes it was hard to narrow it down to one. So I didn't. Today, being a Friday and a traditional Pizza Night for our family I am sharing Donna's Whole Wheat & Parmesan Pizza Crust. Monday I've got a photogenic brunch treat with bicolor Sweet Potato and Pecan Monkey Bread. Again I've found recipes that use farm share-sourced ingredients as well as recipes that fit in with my blog and boy do they appeal to my family!

As I noted at the top, there's a trigger warning about carbs on this post. Looking through the recipes from Donna's book made me want to BAKE ALL THE THINGS! In fact, as I mentioned on my FB page, I weighed out more than 3 pounds of flour while baking on Saturday. And more on Sunday. I gave away bread to my neighbors, friends, and even my son's ACT test proctor because the kids and I were getting swamped with all of these yummy goodies and I am inspired to try more variations.

I'm baking like a fiend [do fiends bake? Maybe they'd be less fiendish if they did] so that on Tuesday, the one year anniversary of publication of Make Ahead Bread (Amazon affiliate link, still) my recipes will be added to a round up of recipes shared on Mother Would Know. Then we hope you buy a copy for yourself, for your local library, or for someone who will bake for you!

Needs a bit more kneading--this is when I added the salt and cheese.

For more pizzas ideas, since I fix one for my family nearly every Friday night, please see my Visual Pizza Recipe Index. I've got it broken down into pizza doughs (where this recipe will land), savory pizzas using fruit, vegetarian pizzas, and pizzas with meat toppings. I've got a Pinterest board of pizza ideas from around the web. On my FB page I often share what's going on in the kitchen as well as recipes and round ups that catch my eye. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

BBQ Pork and Potato Pizza

Got leftover pulled pork? Grab a potato, some cheese and some more BBQ sauce for this yummy pizza. Making something fresh out of leftovers for Friday Night Pizza Night.

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Sometimes I am in a light mood and make lighter food. I say 'light' not in the commonly accepted 'lower in fat and/or calories' way, more in terms of how I feel when I eat the food. My newly updated post of my vegetarian White Spinach Pizza (better than CPK copycat) would be an example. Other times I want to burrow in and enjoy heartier fare. This pizza is decidedly heartier fare.

Ever have leftovers of pulled pork? We sure do--making a slow cooker full of Kalua Pig means there's pig all over the menu for a while. I took my friend Holly's suggestion to add some BBQ sauce to leftover Kalua Pig and created this pizza. It's a simple-yet-flavorful way to change up a Friday Night Pizza Night (link to my Pinterest board of the same name).

I'd say this is a Cook Once Eat Twice meal, but in fact you are cooking that pig, cooking that potato, and then cooking that pizza. So it's not really twice. However, making pizza at home is such a simple groove to get into that the concept of leftovers remade into a pizza is an easy-to-happen thing.

For more recipes using potatoes, because some of us ordered 25 pounds of red and 25 pounds of white from our farm share, in addition to the weekly bunches of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and turnips coming in and are therefore stuffing potatoes into the family for breakfast, lunch, and dinner . . . lost the train of thought here . . . please see my Potato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. This is a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, and seasonal abundance. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

Slow-roasted Tomato Pizza with Late Summer Vegetables

This pizza is a vegetarian's mid Late Summer Dream. Squash, peppers, olives and slow-roasted tomatoes covered with cheese.

My strawberry patch is growing summer squash/zucchini volunteers, not strawberries. I didn't really expect strawberries to grow at the end of summer, but squash? Eh, I'll run with it. 

It may seem like I am on a roll with pizzas. No pun needed there--if you saw my photo collages in my Pizza Primer post you'd know I don't use a rolling pin to make pizza. No need [the fingers hovered over k-n-e-a-d . . .] as I just use my hands to push/pull the dough into the shape it wants to be.

Perhaps that's what comes with having teenagers? I know that I can still help guide them a bit, but ultimately they are in charge of their final shape, not me.

I continue to help guide my readers in ways to use and put up seasonal produce. This week our Community Supported Agriculture farm share farmers canned 100 pounds of tomatoes outside over a fire. That's 37 quarts, people, and a mere one time energy outlay in return for a year of shelf stability. Canning tomatoes is awesome.

You know another excellent way to put up tomatoes? Slow-roasting them. With cooler evenings, this time of year is more tolerable in the kitchen than the height of summer. Alanna's tutorial on slow-roasting tomatoes is my guide. I'm here with suggestions on how to use that bounty, and since it's a Friday that means pizza.

For other ideas on how to use and put up tomatoes, please see my Tomatoes board on Pinterest and my Red/Yellow Tomato Recipe Collection, part of my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, farmer's market, or garden abundance and rogue volunteer squash in the strawberry patch. For more pizza recipes I've got the Visual Pizza Recipe Index and the Friday Night Pizza Night Pinterest board. Wanna know how to use this blog? Click here.

Apple, Gouda and Pecan Pizza

Chunks of apples, bits of pecans, and loads of melty Gouda cheese in this savory vegetarian pizza.

When you make pizzas nearly every weekend, and you like to keep things lively on the pizza stone [don't think too deeply on that one] inspiration comes at you from every direction. This pizza was inspired by a photo of a grilled cheese sandwich on this post. Apparently that's enough for me to go off in a pizza direction.

A vegetarian, savory, pizza with fruit direction.

When I shared my Fresh Pineapple and Shaved Ham with Mascarpone Pizza recently, a friend said her spouse didn't do fruit on pizza. What?  Fruit on pizza rocks!  I'm not talking sweet fruit dessert pizzas. In the multitude of pizzas in my Visual Pizza Recipe Index by Ingredient I do not have any dessert pizzas. I'll eat them, don't get me wrong, I just haven't made any. I'm just not that into it. In my world, fruit on a pizza is not a dessert thing. It's a Savory Pizzas with Fruit thing.

So I'm bringing you yet another savory pizza with fruit. Yet another pizza with apples on it, this one inspired by that grilled cheese sandwich photo and the fact that I had a Costco-sized hunk of gouda cheese in the fridge.

I get cheese obsessions, probably a good thing when I've got a Costco-sized hunk of whatever flavor obsession du jour fromage. Having an ample amount of cheese makes for interesting recipes. I've used gouda in Roasted Sweet Potato and Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole and Three Cheese Fast-baked Cauliflower so far. Stay tuned for more, like this vegetarian savory pizza which is lovely for Fall.

For more recipes using apples, please see my Apples & Apple Cider Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share or farmer's market. I've got an assortment of other pizza ideas on my Friday Night Pizza Night! Pinterest board and my Visual Pizza Recipe Index.

Fresh Pineapple and Shaved Ham Pizza with Mascarpone Cheese

Thinly-sliced fresh pineapple and shaved ham atop a red sauce & mascarpone-spread honey wheat crust. It's the little touches that elevate a common pizza.

For other pizza ideas, please see my Visual Pizza Recipe Index. It's got categories for dough, vegetarian pizzas, pizzas with meat and, where this one belongs, savory pizzas with fruit. I've also got a Friday Night Pizza Night! board on Pinterest if you crave ideas for pizza like I do. Want to know how to use this blog? Click here.

I'm sharing a pizza today that, for a change from my usual pizza recipes, is a topping combo found in standard pizza joints. No Beet Greens & Scrambled Egg Pizza here. No Shaved Kohlrabi Pizzas. Nope, I'm keeping it simple today with ham & pineapple on red sauce. Except, as you'll see, it's the little things that matter. Little touches that make your homemade pizza just a bit better than delivery.

For this pizza my little changes are using fresh pineapple, using shaved ham, spreading a thin layer of mascarpone cheese on the crust, and using a honey wheat pizza dough.

Let's start with the crust. If you don't want to make your own dough--don't bother. It's a pizza, and if making dough stresses you out then skip it. It's pretty easy to get good pizza crusts in bakeries and grocery stores these days. I threw my ingredients in the bread machine and let it do the work. [I threw a different set of 'ingredients' in my washing machine and let it work as well. I love technology.]

Get some mascarpone cheese. This is what, the third pizza using mascarpone that I've shared this year? THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST FOR TIRAMISU. I've never even made tiramisu, but I frequently have a tub of mascarpone in my cheese drawer.

Use shaved ham. A very thin slice of ham gets crispier in the oven or on the grill, when compared to a standard slice of ham. That little touch adds texture and flavor to your pizza.

Splurge on fresh pineapple when it's on sale. When living in Hawaii I learned to tell a ripe whole pineapple (look for 'eyes' all the same size), but unless I'm grilling spears I buy the pre-cored fresh tubs at the store. Do I ever buy canned pineapple? You bet--great in a dump cake and a smoothie. Fresh is better on a pizza because it is drier and the heat brings out the sweetness easier.

With just a few little changes you can make a terrific pizza at home, better than you could get at a pizza joint. Aren't you worth it?

Onion Mascarpone Grilled Naan Pizza

This easy yet elegant vegetarian pizza combines cream-tossed onions, feta and mascarpone cheese on a simple naan bread crust. Cooked quickly on the grill, you've got fancy flavors in a flash.

For other recipes using onions, please see my Onion Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other vegetarian pizzas, please see my Visual Pizza Recipe Index or my Friday Night Pizza Night Pinterest board.

While I am always inspired by the contents of my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share box, the freezer, the fridge, and the pantry--sometimes I get additional inspiration for a recipe while I am in the shower. Sometimes I am inspired by my email inbox. Other times it is social media. When the Pizza Cipolla from Karen's Kitchen Stories came through my Facebook feed I was intrigued, and inspired.

First, it caught my eye because it is a pizza, and I make pizza nearly every Friday night. [With a son in the high school marching band the 10-12 weeks of football season are a slight aberration.] Second, I happened to have 2 bags of onions lying around. It's August, I'm canning, and in a fit of 'what if I run out?' I sent said son to the grocery store for 'better make that 2 bags!' of red onions to supplement the pint in the farm share box. [Said son did not mind--he know he can buy a coffee with the change, and he's got plenty of room on his wheelchair for packages.] Third, I'd bought a bunch of heavy cream and mascarpone cheese to make this delightful Low Carb Mascarpone Mousse by Carolyn of All Day I Dream About Food. [It is delicious, even if you're NOT looking for a diabetic-friendly dessert for a luncheon honoring someone living with diabetes.] Since I had the right stuff for a good topping, I was all set.

Except, as I mentioned, it's August. I'm canning tomatoes. [So far I've made crushed tomatoes, salsa, and pizza sauce. My plants are nearly dead--some weird brown leaf fungus this year--so I will end up bringing in the rest to ripen in the house and can later.] I had no desire to a) fuss with pizza dough or b) turn on the oven. Instead, I opened the freezer and fired up the grill. [Did you notice all the packages of naan in this photo of my freezer?] With an easy crust, I used Karen's pizza topping and added a bit more white stuff--mascarpone, feta, and shredded Italian blend cheese--to make a very easy, elegant, vegetarian pizza.

One thing I probably should have done--grabbed some fresh thyme. I've got plenty in the garden but walking into my backyard these days is kind of a minefield. [Not the 'you've got 3 dogs minefield' or the 'we've marked the cleared path and don't recommend you step off the marked area, Lt' minefields, either.] It's more like the If You Give A Mouse A Cookie minefield. If I walk into the garden to get fresh thyme, I'm going to stop to check the progress of the volunteer squash vines taking over the patio. I'll notice a few baby zucchini and make a mental note to pick them later in the week. Then I'll see a bunch of peppers ready to be pickled and scoop up a handful. Even though my daughter harvested tomatoes the day before, there will be more to add to my arms. Walking back into the house to get a basket I'd trip over the now baseball bat-sized zucchini and smash my face into an impromptu salsa. I chose to use dried thyme to avoid that fate.

What is Tomato Pesto? Why Put it on a Pizza?

A vegetarian's delight: pizza with marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and pickled banana peppers on fresh tomato pesto, topped with salty feta crumbles and creamy burrata cheese, finished with fresh summer savory.

Have you made Fresh Tomato Pesto yet? It's one of my most popular posts every summer, and with good reason. This flexible dairy free recipe uses ANY type of tomato (I've tried cherry to Roma), assorted nuts--or sunflower seeds--and whatever herbs you've got handy. I prefer a combo of flat Italian parsley and basil, but I'll be experimenting with cilantro this year.

This is after thawing!

Eat it fresh, and if you've got a bunch of ripe tomatoes--put some up for later by freezing! I like these reusable storage caps for freezing (Amazon affiliate link) and freeze my pesto in half pint size jars. I use a piece of clear tape to write down the contents so I don't get mixed up--for example between arugula pesto and  garlic scape pesto. The lids wash up fine and only break when you swing the freezer door open too quickly and everything falls out and rolls on the floor to the delight of Robert Barker. [I'm sure that only happens to me, though].

I like to dip a variety of veggies and crackers into my fresh tomato pesto, but I really like to use it on pizza. I thaw a jar a day or so in advance, in the fridge, and drain off any water that rises to the top [For use as a pasta sauce I just stir it in.] Then I've got a flavorful sauce that adds a homemade touch to pizza.

Go make Fresh Tomato Pesto. My tutorial is here. For other recipes using tomatoes, please see my Red & Yellow Tomato Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. For other Awesome Veggie Apps and Snacks, please see my Pinterest board. For more vegetarian pizzas, please check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index and my Friday Night Pizza Night Pinterest board. Wanna know how to Use This Blog? Click here!

Deep Dish Sausage, Eggplant and Artichoke Pizza (Alternative Recipe Ideas for Eggplant)

Deep dish pizza with eggplant, artichoke and pepperoni tucked under a blanket of sausage.

Eggplant is a wonderful way to illustrate how life is different when you're eating from the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share.

The other week I was chatting with my hair gal about farm shares and explaining what sort of produce we were getting during midsummer. I mentioned eggplant. She replied that she loved eggplant parmesan and it got me thinking. [Get ready for the rant]

If the only way you know to eat eggplant is Eggplant Parmesan, what do you do when you have a farm share and get 3 eggplants per week for 4 out of 5 weeks in a row? I suppose you could make a weekly pan of eggplant parmigiana. I hear it freezes fine. Or you could share it with friends who need a bit of love through food. Or me!

If you're looking for alternatives, though, think about grilling slices of eggplant, baking eggplant chips, or roasting cubes. Amazing flavors and endless possibilities. Please check out my Eggplant Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. I will be updating it like I've done with beets and kohlrabi, including recipes from other food bloggers to generate a useful resource for folks like me eating from the farm share. Folks who may not feel like eating a pan of eggplant parm once a week in July and August. /rant, on to the pizza!