Have Fun With Leftover Charcuterie By Dressing Up This Friday Night Staple

Sure, a charcuterie board is absolutely delicious, whether it's for tonight's cocktail party or for a meal when you want small bites. The caveat to a charcuterie board, however, is that there are nearly always chunks of cheese, slices of cured meat, olives, and perhaps some fresh fruit left over. Food waste is never the answer, but you likely don't need another charcuterie board again soon, either. So what's your solution? Turn that charcuterie surplus into pizza toppings.

Think about it: Many of the bites on a charcuterie board, from the cheese to the salami, are pretty traditional pizza toppings. And when it comes to the fig jam or apple slices, the ingredients still work for a more unique pizza dinner. Even a cheese like Brie can pair deliciously with other toppings if there's no cheddar or mozzarella on the cheese board.

The leftover charcuterie is an easy way to upgrade your favorite frozen pizza or to make dinner prep quicker when you want to make homemade pies at home. You can even use a pre-made pizza crust and sauce from the store if you want to put in a little effort and don't have time to let made-from-scratch dough rise. To convince you further, most of the bite-sized meats and cheeses require little knife work to transform your pizza.

You can really pair whatever charcuterie board leftovers you want to add to your pizza based on your own preferences, but we've got some ideas. If a meat-lover's pizza is your thing, mix the pepperoni, salami, prosciutto, or summer sausage and throw it on top of your pizza. To skip the meat, stick with the olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes for a vegetarian-friendly pizza. Have leftover Brie on the charcuterie board? Slice the Brie and pair it with sliced apples or pears for a savory-and-sweet pizza. Even the nuts can be crushed and added to the pizza as a garnish, perhaps with some freshly-shaved Parmesan.

When you settle on what charcuterie board extras should go on your pizza, we've got other tips for building the pizza. If you aren't using a frozen pizza, a homemade pizza sauce is ideal, but you can use the fig jam from the cheese board or olive oil. Then, there's the cheese. If the cheese is in chunks or large slices, make sure to shred it or cut it into smaller pieces so that it melts evenly on the pizza. And be sure to cut any ingredients into bite-sized pieces, like other pizza toppings would be prepared.