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Posted by Maxine Cleminson - - 3 comments

I am the Queen of Over-Catering. I can't help myself. I think it's because I was a guest at a memorable (for the wrong reason) event where the catering was woefully inadequate to the point where people were jostling over the last sausage roll at the buffet. It was utterly cringe-worthy and has left me scarred for life! So I nearly always end up with a glut of food after I have hosted a party. This Halloween is no exception and it wasn't helped by some last minute illness-induced cancellations. Oh boy.

So, I ended up with a large quantity of lasagna, cannelloni and pizza to use up. I froze what I could and sent Him Indoors and the Big One to work/school with packed lunches of pasta & pizza for the last few days. But I still had rather a few slices of cold and frankly unappetisingly dry pizza left in the fridge that would look at me accusingly every time I opened the door. If there's something I hate more than under-catering, it's wasting food!

Thankfully, whilst I was trying to convince myself that the pizza wouldn't be so bad once reheated and slathered in ketchup, I was struck by inspiration. Bread pudding. After all, what is pizza other than bread with tomato sauce and cheese on top! However, bread pudding is usually sweet with sugar and dried fruit... would a savoury version work? The answer is a resounding and delicious 'yes'!





You will need...

  • leftover pizza
  • eggs (1-2 per slice depending on the thickness of the crust and size of the slice)
  • milk (about 1/2 to 1 cup depending on the number of eggs used)
  • Parmesan (approximately 1/4 cup, plus some extra for the top)
  • seasoning
  • Optional: oregano
  • Optional: extra vegetables/cooked meat.








First off, you will need an oven-proof baking dish that will accomodate your pizza neatly.  Lightly grease the dish with butter or oil and set aside.  Then simply cut your cold leftover pizza into chunks about an inch or so square.  Spread them evenly in the ovenproof dish.  You can add extra vegetables or cooked meats to your pizza if you'd like.  I used bell pepper and mushrooms (although only on one side with the mushrooms as my kids are fusspots)!










Then beat your eggs and add the milk, Parmesan, seasoning and herbs.  Pour the eggy mixture over the pizza until it is all coated.  It doesn't need to be swimming in it, but you will need enough liquid so that all the pizza will fully absorb it.  You can always beat a few extra eggs and add if your dish looks too dry.  Cover the dish in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour so that the pizza has a chance to fully absorb the liquid and go soggy. You could even leave it overnight so that you have a pre-prepared brunch dish just waiting to pop in the oven!  








Sprinkle a handful of Parmesan over the top and season before popping in the oven at 350'F (180'C) for 30-45 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.









You can either serve hot, cut into slices and served with a nice green salad.  Or it's good cut up and served cold too!

















Enjoy!

The Shabby Nest

3 Responses so far.

  1. See, I'm quite a fan of eating cold pizza the next morning, and the same goes for eating cold curry as well. In fact, I once woke up and ate the remains of a half-pounder burger that I had bought from a kebab shop the night before.

    But making an actual dish out of it? I don't know why, but it sounds vile. Even though the pics of it look really nice.

    What are those red things in the last couple of pics, by the way?

  2. Hey Michael! I happen to quite like cold pizza too... and cold curry is a definite fav! I can even admit to cold doner kebab after boozy nights as a student ... then again, most greasy leftovers hit the spot when you're an impoverished student! However, this particular leftover pizza was from a Halloween party 2 nights previous and having been only loosely covered in the fridge was decidedly dried out (and I'm obviously a bit more discerning these days)!!! I must admit, when I put the recipe together it was with a bit of trepidation as I too wasn't convinced it was going to work... but happily it was really delicious!! Even Him Indoors and the kiddos gave it the thumbs up!

    Try it, you may be surprised!!!

    P.S. The red things are tomatoes ... baby plum variety!!!

  3. Melanie says:

    I'm making this tonight! We had a TON (yes, 2000 lbs) of leftover pizza and my 4 kids were getting tired of eating it for every meal...I just can't toss perfectly good food! This is so easy and adds a lot of protein that regular pizza is missing. I hope they love it. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for posting!

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