Some of will be entertaining family over the coming week or so during the Christmas Holidays. I am not sure yet if my son and his family will be coming or not. It all depends on Covid and the rising numbers.
I hate that the virus, almost two years later, is still having such a huge impact on our lives.
When it first came out I thought it was not as serious as it was, and the danger might only last, at best, a few months. Boy, oh boy . . . it has been much more than that, and I see no end in sight.
Anyways, if you are lucky enough to be able to have family with you, there are sure to be some youngsters in the bunch.
You may be looking for a quick and easy, and yes . . . simple supper that you can serve that will please the young-ones in the group and maybe a few old-ones as well!
You can pretty much tailor them to any taste and according to what is in your refrigerator or larder. Myself, I always have pizza fixings on hand.
Pizza is, quite simply, one of my favorite food groups! I like it anyway any how!
You don't always have the time to knock up a nice crust from scratch. That's when having something like whole ciabatta or ciabatta rolls in the freezer comes in very handy!!
Sliced in half and topped with sauce and cheese ciabatta rolls and bread make excellent, quick and easy substitutions for a toasty deep dish type of a a pizza crust.
No rolling out of doughs or faffing about required!!
They provide almost instant pizza gratification. You can use a good readymade store-bought sauce or you can use a homemade sauce.
I make a great pizza sauce myself and have included the instructions on how to do just that in the recipe. It is delicious!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CIABATTA PEPPERONI PIZZA
It truly is very simple and largely adaptable to what you happen to have in your refrigerator and larder.
- Ciabatta bread or rolls (for four people, either four individual long rolls or 1-1lb. loaf of bread)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) good olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/2 cup (120ml) pizza sauce
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 8-ounces (227g) fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup (25g) finely grate Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 10 or so medium slices of pepperoni
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes (optional)
Of course nothing is set in stone. You can use whatever pizza toppings you and your family enjoy. You can add chopped onions and peppers.
Mushrooms, ground beef, salami, Italian sausage, olives, marinated artichoke halves. The world is really your oyster here! For the very fussy, you can leave it simply at cheese.
Good ingredients speak for themselves. If you want delicious, use the best ingredients that you can afford!
HOW TO MAKE CIABATTA PEPPERONI PIZZA
Whist these are quick and not very difficult to make, I do do a few things differently with these.
These simple little steps can make all the difference in the world between having a good pizza experience and having a GREAT pizza experience!
One thing you absolutely want to do is to line your baking sheet with either some aluminum foil or a sheet of parchment paper.
The very nature of these things (if you top them properly) means that the sauce and cheese can ooze over the edges of the rolls, you don't want too much of a mess.
After all, we are all about ease here!! Cut your rolls or loaf horizontally through the center and place onto the prepared baking sheet, cut sides up.
I begin by drizzling the cut sides of the ciabatta with some garlic infused olive oil. You could of course brush this on, but drizzling works fine for me.
Once you have done this, spoon the pizza sauce over top and sprinkle with the oregano. Pop the topped ciabatta into the preheated oven and bake for about 5 minutes.
At the end of that time remove them from the oven and place the sliced mozzarella on top. You could also use pre-grated Italian cheese. The four cheese blend is very nice.
Sprinkle the top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and then place your pepperoni slices on top. it doesn't really matter where you put them as they will immigrate as the cheese melts.
If you want them to stay on the top, keep them as near the center of the rolls as you can.
Back into the oven for a further 9 to 10 minutes and they should be done. The cheese should be nice and ooey gooey.
The edges and bottoms of the ciabatta should be golden brown and crisp and the sauce heated through. The pepperoni should be starting to crisp on the edges.
Let them cool just for a bit to let everything settle down slightly. Cheese burn is never fun. Been there done that. Bought the t-shirt!!
Its much more fun eating them when you don't have to worry about burning your lips and chin with hot cheese and sauce!
I guarantee whatever you decide to serve with these and no matter what you decide to top them with, everyone will be very happy with the end result! Enjoy!!
These ciabatta pizzas also make great nibbles. Simply bake as above and cut into small bite sized pieces. Arrange on a warm tray and pass with drinks, or set out on the buffet table for people to help themselves!
Of course you can switch out the toppings as desired. Anything pizza-like goes!!
These are especially nice when done with the Proscuitto ham and the basil pesto toppings instead of pepperoni. They go beautifully with drinks.
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These look so good. What an easy thing to make for dinner when you're busy getting ready for Christmas. We're going out tomorrow to get the last of the Christmas provisions. I want to buy my Christmas roses, pink and red, only $14 a dozen at NoFrills in gorgeous colours - red, pinks, yellow, white, rust, mauve. They last sometimes for as long as two weeks. Enjoy your Monday. Stay safe. Be careful if you're out and about. Love and hugs, Elaine
ReplyDeleteIt does make for a very easy meal Elaine. Your flowers sound lovely. I have not had fresh flowers in a while now. Maybe I will pick up a bouquet. We shall see! Love and hugs, xoxo
DeletePlease can I ask both you and other online cooks/chefs to stop using the term fussy to describe people who only eat a very narrow range of food. I believe it to be both hurtful and damaging. The range of food I ate as a child was very small, but my mother was kind and accommodating. As I look back now, I truly think I would have been hospitalised. Today as I struggle with fibromyalgia, many of my issues are resurfacing and eating can be a struggle, I am thankful that my mother's kindness allowed me to gradually expand my choices of food, so it is not as difficult as it might be. Please don't call us fussy for something we can't help, even if it does mean we reject your lovely food.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry if my use of the term fussy insulted you Karen. I was not of course referring to people who have food issues such as allergies, etc. I was referring to people who have no issues with foods, but simply are unwilling to try anything outside of their scope. They are not the same thing. I would never refer to a person with your narrow boundaries of what you can eat as fussy. I had a son who was extremely fussy and trust me, I tried everything with him. I never forced him to eat anything he did not want, but I worried a great deal about his diet. His toast had to be a certain colour, not a smidgen darker, or lighter. (just one example) I am sorry you found offence where none was meant.
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