Pull-Apart Pizza French Bread

I usually pack Eric a lunch for work during the week, and I'm the one who cooks dinner pretty much every night (sometimes that's a frozen pizza or a can of soup, but hey--I'm still the one heating it). On the weekends, I may make dinner, but he has to fend for himself for lunch. Well, last weekend I found him standing in front of the fridge, door open, trying to figure out what to make for lunch. I decided to take pity on him and made him this bread. He loved it! Of course, he loves pizza anything.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread (store bought or homemade)
1 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup pepperonis, cut in half
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup marinara sauce or pizza sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Using a bread knife, slice your bread making each slice about 1-inch thick, but DO NOT slice bread all the way through; do not slice through the bottom crust of the bread.

In a small bowl, mix together melted butter and Italian seasoning. Carefully drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of butter mixture into each cut. Next, gently stuff the mozzarella and pepperoni between the bread slices. Be careful not to accidentally tear the bottom crust. Brush or drizzle the remaining butter mixture over the top of the bread.

Wrap bread completely in tin foil and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the bread browns lightly. Warm sauce in the microwave and serve with bread.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Bread Recipes:
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Mug 
Grandma Betty's Banana Bread
Homemade Bread Sticks 
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Homemade Pita Bread
Only the Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls 
Parmesan Onion Rolls 
Pull Apart Pizza Bread  
Pull-Apart Spinach and Cheese Bread
Pumpkin Bread!
Sour Cream Dinner Rolls 

Pizza Inspired Chicken

I don't think I've ever met anyone who loves pizza more than my husband. I swear, he could happily eat it every day. But he only likes it one way: with pepperoni, which for me gets pretty boring. So I decided to try something a little different, keeping my fingers crossed that Eric would like it. He absoultely loved it. (I like it too.) It's definitely going into our meal rotation.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
1 cup pizza sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
10 pepperonis, chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish with cooking spray.

In a shallow dish, combine flour with salt and pepper. In a bowl, beat egg and milk together. In a second shallow dish, combine breadcrumbs, basil, oregano, and parsley.

Dredge the chicken breast in the flour. Dip the breasts in the egg mixture and shake off excess liquid. Coat the chicken in breadcrumbs and place in baking dish.

Bake for 50 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove from oven, pour pizza sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle with mozzarella, Parmesan, and pepperoni pieces. Turn oven to broil and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese bubbles.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Pizza Recipes:
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Homemade Pizza Rolls
Ricotta, Basil, and Sun-dried Tomato Pizza 
The Pizza Quiche
Pizza Zucchini Boats

Homemade Pizza Rolls

There have been a package of wonton wrappers sitting in the fridge for about two weeks now. At first I thought I was going to use them to make homemade pizza rolls for Eric, then I thought about using them to make cream cheese rangoons which we both love, and then I made some homemade Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread) and couldn't wait to make chocolate-hazelnut ravioli. So today I decided to make the whole trio of appetizers. First, I'll share with you my homemade pizza rolls.

Ingredients:
16 wonton wrappers
16 pepperonis
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 cup pizza sauce
cooking spray
water

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Pour about 1 teaspoon of pizza sauce in the middle of your wonton wrapper.

Add a large pinch of cheese--about 1/2 teaspoon--on top of the sauce.

Place a single pepperoni on top of the cheese.

Brush all four edges of the pizza roll with water then fold the wonton wrapper in half and press the edges together to seal. Place on the cookie sheet and repeat the process with the rest of the wonton wrappers.

Spray the tops of the pizza rolls with cooking spray and place them in the oven. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until they turn a golden brown.

Allow to cool and enjoy!

When Eric took his first bite of the pizza rolls, he just turned to me with a large smile and I knew he'd want me to make them again, so much so that he even offered to help next time (working with wonton wrappers is a bit of work). You also can do a million and one variations of these. Eric's a pizza traditionalist--pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. But you could add minced onion, green pepper, mushrooms, olives . . . pretty much any veggie you'd like. Or you could make a buffalo chicken pizza roll, sausage pizza roll, and so on.

Tomorrow I'll post the cream cheese rangoon recipe.

Chocolate-hazelnut ravioli, cream cheese rangoons, and homemade pizza rolls

~Krissy