I think that food should be both delicious and fast. At least when I am hungry, which is often, everyday almost when I stop and think about it.
Hungry, I started to making a delicious French bread pizza. It is actually surprisingly easy. It's probably one of the fastest things I make on a regular basis. When I say fast I mean 20 minutes. But for a satisfying dinner that everyone at the table will be on board with, miracles do not happy often. The key here is to pick a really delicious prepared pesto, easily found in grocery stores even when basil isn't in season.
When you have your pesto you need to layered the rest of your ingredients on crispy French bread with fresh cherry tomatoes, sautéed chicken, and mozzarella cheese, etc..
I usually use:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Extra-virgin olive oil and Parmesan cheese shavings, for serving (optional)
- 1 medium boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 ounces), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 2 (10-ounce) loaf French bread or baguette
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved, divided
- Salt
Once I have my ingredients I will start potting things together to bake. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven, then pre-heat to 400°F.
Once you have that going start heating the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat until shimmering then go ahead and add the chicken. I like salt so I use two big pinches of salt when I am grilling the chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and starting to turn golden-brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat to ensure that it doesn't burn.
We're getting close now, you'll need to use a serrated knife to cut the bread. Otherwise when you try to cut it in half lengthwise you may rip it and that doesn't present itself nearly as nicely on the plate.
Place the halves cut-side up on a baking sheet.
Spread the pesto on bread. Top with half the tomatoes and half the chicken. Sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella. Top with the remaining tomatoes and chicken.
Then start baking it until the bread is heated through and the cheese is melted, in my oven this takes about 10 minutes. Then take it out and dab a little olive oil on top and cover it in Parmesan shavings. If you want to. This step is really only if desired. But we really love it like this! Cut each half into 2 pieces for a serving.