Turning Leftovers Into Pizza

I hate leftovers. Can't stand 'em. Unfortunately, there's no sense in making just enough food for one meal. Waste of time and money after considering the labor involved. Rather than attempting to enjoy Sunday's pot roast again on Monday just as it is, I'd rather take the seemingly less traveled path from the days of old: turn that food into something new.

Last we met, I had several pounds of skirt steaks on the smoker and what could only be described as a vat of pico de gallo. The folks were assuming that it would be dinner once again as is, but that wasn't for me. Instead, I set a batch of dough on to rise. I used my basic pizza dough, a mixture of yeast, water, oil, and flour, nothing special. I pulled in some fresh green bell pepper and mozzarella for the topping, adding to it a bunch of sliced fajita steak. Drained out the pico de gallo to use as a base for the pizza in lieu of tomato sauce. Turned out as one fiery 'za, and ended up being one of the rare few fresh pizzas cooked in that house.

Could have done the same thing with any other dish, whatever was on hand. Pizza is a marvelous vehicle for some of the most random ingredients. If I had some pineapple on hand, you know that would have made it into the mix. Pineapple and jalapenos, sweet mercy. Quake in fear of the day that I end up with extra meatballs after a brisk round of spaghetti. I wish I knew why my comrades subject themselves to the same reheated food day after day instead of having something mildly exciting in their mouth. Stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life!

Pizza's not just for eating cold the morning after. It's a great way to use up your leftovers.