Spur of the Moment Pizza

French Bread Pizza can be found easily in the pizza section of the frozen food aisle; but making it from scratch is just as easy. Honestly though, wouldn't you rather make it yourself? The frozen product has preservatives, you have to preheat the oven, let it bake for 20 minutes and it's usually an unsatisfactory product. The local Maverik (gas station/convenience store) puts out a pretty good French bread pizza, but it goes very quickly. I like to have it when I am in the mood for pizza, don't have the dough handy, but I want it now! To satisfy my craving, I finally decided to just make it myself.

Basically there are three main ingredients: loaf of the wide French bread, a block of mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce. Cut the loaf in half to create two smaller loaves; then cut these in half through the inside. Place them crust side down on a large jelly roll pan.

Spoon sauce over the interior side of the bread; I use about 1/3 of a cup, but I like a lot of sauce on my pizza. I try to use my homemade pasta sauce, but if that's not handy, then I'll use Contadina's Pizza Squeeze sauce. Now cut slices of the mozzarella, about 1/8" thick and lie them side by side until the bread is covered.  I find the sliced cheese melts better and I like the gooey texture it creates on the bread.

Bake in a preheated 425F oven, center rack, for about 12-15 minutes.  Cut into thirds for easier picking up and eating, or just go for broke!  This will make four French bread pizzas.

Of course you can add other ingredients - meats, veggies, whatever you like, but make sure the meats are cooked thoroughly before using.  Also, mix the meats or veggies with shredded mozzarella cheese instead; that way the cheese will melt all around the pieces.

Whether you are making this for yourself, other adults or children; have fun with it!

Mary Cokenour