04 July 2009

Pesto Pizza on French Bread

En français ici.

First of all, a quick announcement to say that I'll be away for two weeks, starting Sunday, at an intensive acting program in a tiny town (160 inhabitants) in the center of France. I'll be taking a break from blogging during that time, but don't worry, I'll be back! I won't have internet while I'm there, so if I don't comment on your blogs for a while, I hope you'll forgive me; I'll be busy performing comedy and vaudeville!


Before I go, though, I'd like to leave you with this comforting and versatile recipe. I say comforting because for me French bread pizza (or pizza on a bagel) was one of those childhood meals to look forward to. Now when I realize how easy it was to make, I think it must've been one for my parents to look forward to too :-) You can do pretty much anything with these. I've made a couple pesto versions recently: with ham, with cherry tomatoes, with roasted peppers, all delicious.



For 3 people

1 baguette
12 Tbsp pesto (for the basic recipe, Joy of Cooking has a good one, but there are plenty of variations!)
Toppings : cherry tomatoes, ham, roasted peppers, etc.
Cheeses : I used a mix of emmenthal (grated), feta and blue cheese
pepper

Cut the baguette into thirds and slice each third in half to open it up. Spread about 2 Tbsp of pesto on each side. Lay on toppings and sprinkle with the cheeses of your choice. Put on a cookie sheet in the broiler (or in oven on broiler setting) for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

5 comments:

giz said...

That would make a perfect meal for me - any one of the variations - they all look delicious.
Have a great time at the acting retreat - I'm sure it'll be hard work and good fun all at the same time.

Cicero Sings said...

Sounds like a VERY fun program.

Bread pizzas are very quick and handy things to work up!

PG said...

Hope your retreat is going/went well. I like the idea of using pesto as a pizza base.

Katharine said...

I remember English muffin pizzas and yes, I did look forward to them. However, there was never any creative flair to them, certainly no pesto on those toddler pizzas either. You've taken them to a whole new level! Can't wait to try new flavors. And, on French bread, yum! Love, Mom

Hopie said...

Giz - Thanks! It certainly was hard work AND good fun :-)

Cicero - Indeed!

Psychgrad - Thanks! It went quite well. I just started using pesto as a pizza base recently and I have to say, it's addictive.

Mom - My pizzas grew up - just like me!