Holiday Leftovers Pizza

So, you still have a ton of leftovers from that holiday meal and are wondering what to do with them. Well, this pizza is the perfect way to get rid of some of those leftovers and have a new, delicious meal. This pizza is great because it not only gets rid of leftover turkey, but it uses up cranberry sauce, onions, garlic and cheese from that huge meat and cheese tray everyone was too full to eat.

Ingredients: pizza dough, cranberry sauce, butter, onion, garlic olive oil and leftover turkey.

Start by roasting your garlic. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop the top off an entire head of garlic. Place it in aluminum foil, sprinkle with 1 tsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Completely cover the garlic with the aluminum foil creating a ball. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, take your raw pizza dough (homemade or store bought), place it on a clean, lightly floured surface and roll out with a rolling pin. Roll it out to the size you wish. The thinner you roll it, the thinner the crust. Place the dough on a pizza stone or baking sheet, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, about 20-30 minutes.

While your dough rests and garlic is roasting, cut your onion into slices.

Melt your butter in a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat.

Throw the onions into the pan. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and turn the heat down to medium-low.

Carmelize the onions by cooking them over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Low and slow is the key to perfectly carmelized onions. When they reach that nice, brown coloring and are very soft like pictured above, they are done. Set aside.

Sprinkle about 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil over the pizza dough and spread with your fingers. (Sorry for the blurry pictures).

Next take your roasted garlic and squeeze the cloves out onto your cutting board.

Take a butter knife or spatula and smoosh the garlic until it becomes a paste.

Spread the garlic over the pizza dough with your fingers and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn the oven temp up to 425 degrees. Place the pizza dough in the oven.

Bake the crust for about 12-13 minutes until it begins to brown.

Slice your Brie. You can use any mild cheese you have leftover from the holidays. Gruyere, goat, Manchego, mozzarella or a mild cheddar would be nice. Mix them if you have little bits of each. Any way you do this, it will be cheesy delicious!

Top the pizza crust with the cheese.

Chop up the leftover turkey into bite size pieces. Top the pizza with the turkey and carmelized onion. Place the pizza back into the oven for about 7 minutes until the cheese melts.

After you take the pizza out of the oven, dot the pizza with the cranberry sauce. If you don't have cranberry sauce, slice up some fresh or dried cherries and add those when you top the pizza with the other ingredients and bake. The cranberry sauce and sliced cherries sound weird on a pizza, but it really compliments the richness of the cheese and the savory of the carmelized onions and turkey.

There you have it, a new meal to use up those leftovers. This pizza is great any time of year. You can leave out the turkey and make this as an appetizer for a party. The key to this pizza is the richness of the Brie, the savory of the carmelized onions and the sweetness of the cranberry sauce. As long as you keep that combination, you will have a delicious pizza!

Holiday Leftover Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 medium ball of pizza dough, store bought or homemade
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 head of garlic
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 wheel of Brie or any leftover, mild cheese, sliced or shredded (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup of leftover turkey
• 1 cup of cranberry sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the top off the head of garlic. Sprinkle 1 tsp of olive oil over the garlic. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes. Set aside.
2. Roll the pizza dough out to fit a pizza stone or baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest while you make the toppings, about 20-30 minutes.
3. Thinly slice onions. Melt butter in a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Once butter melts, turn heat down to medium-low. Add onions and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Cook onions over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once onions are very soft and are a nice brown color, turn heat off and set aside.
5. Sprinkle 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil over rested pizza dough. Spread the oil around with your fingers.
6. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of their papery shells. Smoosh the roasted garlic with a butter knife or spatula. Spread roasted garlic over the pizza dough. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over the pizza dough.
7. Turn oven up to 425 degrees. Bake pizza dough for 12-13 minutes until it starts to brown. Take out of oven and set aside.
8. Slice Brie (or shred whatever cheese you have). Chop the turkey into bite size pieces.
9. Top the pizza crust with cheese, onions and turkey. Place back into the oven and bake for another 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
10. Take pizza out of the oven and dot with cranberry sauce. Enjoy!