Pizza Breakfast Casserole

The proverbial question: how do you eat your leftover pizza?

For lunch?

For breakfast?

Cold?

Warm?

There are probably many many answers out there.  This weekend, I tried out something new.  At least new for me.

In a conversation with a friend a few weeks back about what to do with leftover pizza and breakfast, we came up with a brilliant idea. (Which I am SURE has been done before, but neither of us had ever seen it).  I was talking about how sometimes we chop up the pizza in the morning and put it in omelettes-- which is delicious by the way.  He was talking about how they make that classic breakfast casserole by soaking bread and toppings in egg overnight and baking it in the morning.  My brain thought:

breakfast casserole has bread...

pizza has bread...

breakfast casserole needs cheese and other fillings...

pizza has cheese and other toppings...

Hmmmmmmmmmm... ... ... ...

The result?

Killer Sandwiches

For many years, I thought I didn't like sandwiches.  To this day, I still can't even spell the word right on the first try; and yes, I am an English teacher.  What I soon figured out was that I don't like lunchbox cheap-o sandwiches, you know, the kind me mom used to make, two slices of cheap wheat bread, a squirt of mustard and a slice of lunch meat.  Blech.

Anyway, the other night I made these killer sandwiches, and had to immortalize them forever here, and share them with you.  Warning: the amount of brie on one of these things might put you six feet under.

Arugula, Brie, Chutney, Prosciutto and Egg Sandwich on Parmesan Ciabatta

Start your chutney:

In a skillet, saute 1/2 finely chopped onion and one clove of chopped garlic briefly in 1 T olive oil.  Add 1 large chopped tomato (heirloom is really good).  Sprinkle with salt, 1/2 T of sugar, and 2 T of white balsamic.  Simmer until the moisture evaporates and the mixture starts to caramelize.  While this is happening, you will have just enough time to do the rest of the sandwich prep.

As son as your chutney is cooking, place four sliced ciabatta rolls face down on a large buttered griddle on medium heat.  Allow to toast.

Slice up your brie so that it looks like this (although this is enough for about 6 sandwiches):

Notice I sliced it diagonally and left on all the rind for flavor.  I then cut each of the three longest slices in half. Each sandwich will need 1 and a half slices of brie.

As soon as the bread is browned, put your eggs on to fry.  I like to use ring molds to keep my eggs smaller, and I personally like to leave the yolks runny so they create a kind of sauce.  Feel free to fry your eggs the best way that works for you.  Don't forget to salt and pepper your eggs though.

As your eggs fry, stack your sandwiches:

Brie

Chutney

Egg and Prosciutto

Arugula

Bread

DELICIOUS

MESSY

FATTENING

PERFECT

gone.

I hope you enjoy!

Biscuits or Cinnamon Rolls? Both.

For as long as I can remember, our family has enjoyed several pans of ooey gooey caramel pecan rolls every Christmas morning.  My Dad wakes up early, starts the dough, and about 10:00, out of the oven come a great big pan or two of pure heaven.

We also tend to enjoy fresh, homemade buttermilk biscuits on a fairly regular basis.  Sometimes we eat them with chicken gravy, sometimes with honey, sometimes with homemade boysenberry jam.  Any of those choices are quite tasty.

If you have never made biscuits from scratch,--really from scratch, you know, using flour and butter and buttermilk-- you really ought to give it a try.  Once you give it a try, you might be hooked.

Anyway, what does all of this biscuit talk have to do with cinnamon rolls?  Well, I recently decided to combine the two (yes I MAY have been inspired by that ever famous giggling dough-boy found in the refrigerator section at the grocery store).  I have made these a few times, and they are quite yummy.  So, here goes:

First, make biscuit dough (this is my families favorite recipe, but if this totally overwhelms you, use a mix!):

mix:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

cut in:

1/4 cup butter

add and mix until just combined:

3/4 cup buttermilk

Gather together:

1/3 cup butter melted (I know I know it's a lot of butter, I apologize to your cholesterol and notice I said I only make these occasionally)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 T and 1 T cinnamon

coarsely chopped nuts (pecans are best) if desired

Now here comes the fun part.  On a floured surface, roll out your biscuit dough into a rectangular shape about 1/4-1/3 inch thick.  

Brush the dough with a little bit of the butter.

Sprinkle the dough with a few tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 T of cinnamon.

Pour the remaining melted butter into a square glass, metal or stone baking dish (I actually use a small rectangular dish but it must be smaller than 9x13)  Sprinkle the rest of the brown sugar, the cinnamon and the nuts in the pan.

Roll the dough along the longest edge.

 

 

Cut the dough into pinwheels and arrange in the pan with space between.  This is biscuit dough, so it is rather delicate and soft. If you have any breakage just patch it together as best as you can.

Bake in a 450 degree preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.  Notice how the biscuits expands as they cook, so all the spaces are filled in.

Remove from oven, and immediately invert the pan onto foil lined cook sheet.

Serve!  I hope you enjoy.