French Bread Pizza

By Venzie

Skip the freezer aisle offerings—you can easily prepare our French Bread Pizza recipe at home using ingredients that you probably have on hand. Perfect for weekends or weeknights, our simple recipe takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. For our French Bread Pizza’s crisp (but not tough) crust, we used soft supermarket French bread rather than a baguette. And for convenience, we used prepared pizza sauce to top our pizza.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 (24-inch) loaf French bread, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 8 even pieces
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pizza sauce (see note)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Step 1

Serves 4 to 6


1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Microwave oil, garlic, 2 tablespoons basil, and pepper flakes on high power in small microwave-safe bowl until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.

2. Brush half of oil mixture over crust and edges of bread and arrange cut-side up on foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle Parmesan evenly over bread and bake until cheese begins to brown, about 3 minutes.

3. Whisk pizza sauce, remaining basil, and remaining oil mixture in bowl. Spread sauce evenly over bread, then top with mozzarella. Bake until cheese is melted and spotty brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve.