French Bread Pizzas

TGIF - does anyone else remember when TGIF meant an awesome block of TV (Boy Meets World anyone?)! After a long week back at work and getting my classroom put together - school starts next week!! - I was ready for a fun and relaxing night at home with the hubby and pup. I got just that. :)

The other day I was grocery shopping and saw a really nice looking loaf of French bread. I was immediately inspired to make French bread pizzas this week. After chatting with the hubby, I decided Friday would be the perfect night for some homemade pizzas, a nice glass of wine and a movie (we went old school - Independence Day and it was awesome!).

As it turns out, this was the perfect night for these pizzas. We had so much fun deciding what toppings and combinations to try, and it was so exciting to see them come out of the oven looking golden, bubbly and delicious. And they were. Absolutely scrumptious! I totally recommend these for a date night or just a fun night at home. Feel free to experiment as you like with toppings and even sauces. I've included all the variations we used below.

Ingredients (for the 6 pizzas I made):
*1 loaf french bread, sliced in thirds and then in half
*pizza sauce, homemade or store bought (I went the easy route, aka store bought - - see below for brand, which was great!)
*mozzarella cheese (I recommend a combo of fresh and shredded)
*parmesan cheese
*red onion, sliced finely
*green pepper, julienned
*grape tomatoes, halved
*dried basil
*BBQ sauce
*pepperoni, sliced in half
*spinach (I used frozen and thawed/cooked a cup in the microwave)

Preparation:
Cook each pizza for 12 minutes at 350 degrees (preferably on a pizza stone!). Switch broiler on to brown cheese (I just stared at mine until it was ready, about 1-2 minutes).

See below for my individual pizza directions. 

*BBQ Pizza:
Start with one slice of French bread (see pics below if confused). Spoon some BBQ sauce over the bread. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella or place slices of fresh mozzarella on top of sauce. Add a few green pepper and red onions. Top with a little shredded parmesan cheese.

*Tomato Basil Pizza:
Spoon pizza sauce over french bread slice. Place slices of fresh mozzarella on sauce, and sliced tomatoes between each slice. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese and dried basil on top.

*Supreme Pizza:
Spoon pizza sauce over french bread slice. Sprinkle some cooked spinach over sauce, and place slices of fresh mozzarella on sauce. Add green peppers, red onion, pepperoni slices, tomatoes, and more shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top.

*Veggie Pizza:
Spoon pizza sauce over french bread slice. Sprinkle cooked spinach over sauce. Place slices of fresh mozzarella on sauce. Place tomatoes slices between slices of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle a little shredded mozzarella cheese on top.

*Pepperoni and Green Pepperoni Pizza:
Spoon pizza sauce over french bread slice.  Place slices of fresh mozzarella on sauce. Top with green pepper slices and pepperoni slices. Sprinkle with additional shredded mozzarella cheese.

Some toppings

Sauces...although I didn't end up using the pesto.

BBQ Chicken pizza and Veggie Pizza

Tomato Basil Pizza

Supreme pizza, pepperoni and green pepper pizza, and tomato basil pizza

Fresh out of the oven - love my pizza stone and how yummy these look!