Leftover Pizza, No Problem

I have diligently been using up all of the leftover/over purchased holiday foods and today was no different.  I was looking through the fridge to see what exotic (sarcasm here) food awaited rewarming when I discovered 7 large slices of pizza. Because it had been hanging out in a ziploc bag since NYE I figured it was either eat it tonight or throw it away.  Now I don't mind a slice of cold pizza for breakfast, but I absolutely hate eating rewarmed pizza slices, so I started thinking of what else I could do with it.  TheHub had mentioned wanting Italian food and pizza is an Italian food so a quick revamp (ok it was not quick at all) and our leftover pizza turned into pizza lasagne.





If you are a food purist go ahead and leave now, but if you are the kind who can stand a little creative interpretation of an old favorite then this might just be for you. I promise it is not as weird as it initially sounds. I made this like I make regular lasagne but decided the crust would be used instead of the usual noodles.








    Pizza Lasagne


7 large slices leftover pizza (these were regular and thin crust, pepperoni slices and veggie slices)
1 jar or can of prepared sauce
1/2 cup meat sauce - totally optional but I had some leftover in the refrigerator
1 cup ricotta (which I didn't have so I pureed drained cottage cheese instead)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
4 ounces mozzarella, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (all I had)

Take a dull knife and scrape the topping off the pizza slices and put it in a small saucepan.  Add the jarred sauce (I always have a jar of tomato basil sauce in the pantry thanks to Publix's bogo every 6 weeks) heat and stir until everything is melted and blended well.  Remove from the heat and put about 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. It took 4 slices of pizza crust to cover the bottom of my pan.  I had to tear them into weird shapes so all the surface was covered, but it worked.

Meanwhile in a small bowl stir the ricotta (or pureed cottage cheese) with the spices to mix well then add the beaten eggs and combine them thoroughly. Spread the ricotta mix over the pizza crust pieces using a spatula to make it as even as possible. Sprinkle the parmesan on top of the ricotta mix and than sprinkle the grated mozzarella on top of that.

Pour the red sauce on top of the cheese and smooth it as evenly as you can to cover the entire surface.

Take the remaining pizza and cut it into small pieces (I used the pizza wheel to make it an easy task) about 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch.  Sprinkle these evenly over the top of the sauce.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Let it rest 10 or so minutes before cutting into squares for serving.

I have to admit this was pretty darn tasty.  In fact TheHub had seconds and Son2 had thirds. I will definitely do this again when I have leftover pizza, and luckily there was at least 1/3 of the pan leftover tonight.  I waited until it was completely cool and it now lives in a ziploc bag in the freezer for a quick meal later in the winter.

Woo hoo! I used up some leftovers. It was delicious and get a bonus dinner another day! Now that is what I call a food win!

 For some pizza infused entertainment!