French bread pizza from Stouffer’s was my favorite frozen food as a kid. Now that I’m all grown up I make my own, because I can overstuff them. (My appetite grew, too.)
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Split the bread lengthwise, then cut it in half again and hollow out some of the soft insides of the bread. Lightly crisp the bread in the oven, 10 minutes. Remove the bread and switch the broiler on.
Step 2
Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the EVOO, twice around the pan, and the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until dark and tender, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
Step 3
Heat a second medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining tablespoon of EVOO. When the EVOO smokes, add the pancetta or bacon and render the fat for a minute or so, then add the ground beef and break it up into an even layer. Deeply brown and caramelize the meat, 5 minutes. Add the onions and carrots and season with lots of coarse pepper, some salt, the Worcestershire, and the ground allspice, then cook for 10 minutes more, stirring frequently. Add the wine and scrape up all the brown bits. Add the stock to loosen up the mixture a little, then add the tomatoes and parsley and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Step 4
Season the cooked mushrooms with salt and pepper. Fill the toasted breads with equal amounts of mushrooms, then top them with equal amounts of the meat sauce. Cover the meat sauce with a layer of mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmigiano or Romano cheese. Broil the pizzas to melt the cheese. Shred or tear the basil and top each pizza liberally with it, then serve (with a fork and knife).
