Sloppy Joe Pizza — When the Leftovers Run Out and the Kids Still Need to Eat

Thanksgiving week. I was off the road Tuesday onward. Gayle and I made rolls Wednesday. Amber came home Wednesday at 4. Eli arrived with her. He hugged me at the door. He said, "Thanks for having me, Mrs. Novak." I said, "Call me Brenda, honey." He said, "Yes ma'am." Dave watched this exchange and gave me an approving look. Eli is a good boy.

Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, Gayle's rolls, Amber's cranberry relish (from scratch, with orange), sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and chocolate sheet cake. Twelve of us. Ella sat on Gayle's lap through two courses. Eli sat between Amber and Dave and did not speak for the first twenty minutes and then he loosened up and told a story about his grandmother's Thanksgiving pie that made Gayle laugh and Dave pat him on the shoulder. By the pie course Eli was one of us. We do not adopt people formally. We absorb them.

Friday I cooked nothing. We ate leftovers. Josie had leftover turkey for breakfast in a sandwich with mayonnaise and stuffing, which she called a Thanksgiving Panini and which the rest of the kids immediately copied. Eli and Amber went to the movies Friday night. Tyler and Justin watched football. Dave and I sat on the back porch in coats and drank hot cider and did not speak for twenty minutes. A good marriage is a lot of companionable silence plus a few sentences of deep truth a year.

Saturday Amber and I went through a box I had been meaning to sort for a year — old photographs. Darla, Larry, Gayle, us as children. Amber looked at a photo of Darla at 18, holding a yearbook. Amber said, "Mom. She looks like me." I said, "Yes." She said, "Or I look like her." I said, "You do both." She nodded. She put the photograph back. She is going to ask me for that photo in some future conversation, in some future year, and I am going to give it to her. It is not time yet.

Sunday Eli drove Amber back to UNK. She said, "Mom." She hugged me. I said, "Drive safe." She said, "I love you." I said, "I love you more." We are in the era of I-love-yous. Eli drove. He will drive. He drives carefully. He is a good boy. I have said this already. I will keep saying it.

By the time Sunday came and Amber was back in the car headed to UNK, we had fed twelve people a full Thanksgiving spread, watched the kids raid the fridge for leftover-turkey sandwiches, and sat through enough football to last me until spring. The house goes quiet fast after a week like that, and the last thing I want to do is cook something complicated for whoever’s still around — but I still want to feed people well. This Sloppy Joe Pizza has become my answer to that particular problem: it’s a little silly, a little indulgent, and it disappears off the pan the same way Josie’s Thanksgiving Panini disappeared — fast, and with everyone asking for another piece.

Sloppy Joe Pizza

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb store-bought or homemade pizza dough, at room temperature
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Sliced pickled jalapeños for topping, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet or 14-inch pizza pan with olive oil and set aside.
2. Cook the sloppy joe filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, onion, and bell pepper together, breaking up the meat as it browns, about 7–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, mustard, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
3. Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough into a roughly 12x14-inch rectangle or round to fit your pan. Transfer to the prepared pan and press it gently to the edges. If the dough springs back, let it rest for 5 minutes and try again.
4. Assemble the pizza. Spoon the sloppy joe filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border around the edge. Scatter the mozzarella over the filling, then top with the cheddar. Add jalapeños if using.
5. Bake. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 18–22 minutes, until the crust is golden at the edges and the cheese is bubbly and lightly browned in spots.
6. Rest and slice. Let the pizza rest for 3–5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 375 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 36g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 630mg