Easy French Bread Pizza

Roasted tomatoes and garlic make a simple sauce for this classic snack.

Easy French Bread Pizza with roasted tomato sauce

Food cravings: Who can explain them? Sometimes just a photo of food triggers my saliva glands. On a recent trip to my grocery store, I spotted something in the frozen food case— Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza—that triggered a memory and Pavlovian response.

Wow, I hadn’t had one of those pizzas in years! (Saliva glands activated.) So, I caved to the craving, but it wasn’t as delightful as my teenaged mind remembered from the 1970s. Back then, it was common for Mom to bake a pan of these for me and my friends and it was quite a treat.

Now that I am of “a certain age,” pepperoni and I are not always friends, and hard bread can be a land mine for my teeth. Luckily, this is a simple dish to create at home—the secret is a roasted tomato sauce. My Easy French Bread Pizza also uses a more tender Italian-style bread and turkey pepperoni, which is lower in fat than traditional pepperoni (4 grams of fat versus 12 grams). So, let's get cooking!

To make Easy French Bread Pizza, which yields four servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 10 ounces fresh tomatoes

• 2 garlic cloves

• 16 slices nitrate-free turkey pepperoni

• 1 (16-ounce) loaf Italian-style bread

• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

• ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

How to make Easy French Bread Pizza

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. If using cherry tomatoes, add them to a bowl with garlic, salt, and pepper. Roma tomatoes will need to be quartered first. Drizzle with oil.

Roast tomatoes and garlic for 20 minutes. Cool on pan for 10 minutes.

Transfer tomatoes and garlic carefully into a blender or food processor. Blend until a sauce is created.

Slice each loaf of Italian bread in half and then cut each half on the equator. Each slice should be about 10 inches in length.

Lightly coat each bread slice with tomato sauce, covering the surface.

Cut pepperoni slices into half; arrange evenly on each slice of bread. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle fresh basil over bread.

Arrange bread on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes.

Whether you enjoy as a snack or add a salad for lunch or dinner, Easy French Bread Pizza is nostalgia in one groovy bite!

History of French Bread Pizza

While Stouffer’s may have popularized French bread pizza, several culinary histories point to a food truck from the 1960s in Ithaca, New York, owned by Bob Petrillose who used sub sandwich bread to create pizza for Cornell University students’ late-night munchies. The Wall Street Journal claims Stouffer’s debuted its frozen French bread pizza in 1974, designing the pizza to be heated in toaster ovens (no doubt popular with the college crowd, too).

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About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Spicy Succotash with Edamame

Korean gochujang adds umami to this redo of a Southern classic sweet corn dish.

Spicy Succotash with Edamame

Sweet summer corn. There’s nothing like it. Fresh off the cob in a salad or grilled and slathered with butter, it’s the perfect summer bite. Too bad its season is ending; I love fresh corn.

But I hate lima beans. They are one of the few foods I outright reject. So, when Mom occasionally made traditional succotash during summer as a backyard cookout side dish, I’d always pick out the beans, which essentially left me with a cup of corn kernels.

For decades, succotash remained on my “no thank you” list until chef Edward Lee gave me the inspiration to remake this dish. And it’s so delicious! While chef Lee’s recipe included lima beans (plus black eyed peas), I swapped them for shelled edamame (soybeans that have been picked early). Finally, a version of succotash I could enjoy!

Succotash has a long history that dates to the 17th century. The earliest versions were prepared by Indigenous peoples of today’s New England area. Succotash, in Narragansett, can be translated to mean “broken corn kernels” and consists primarily of sweet corn with shell beans. Over the years, other ingredients were added, including onions, peppers, okra, even salted pork. During the Great Depression, home cooks sometimes cooked succotash as a casserole, adding a light pie crust on top in the form of a pot pie.

Chef Lee brings his Korean roots into classic Southern favorites at his two restaurants, Succotash Prime (Washington, D.C., and National Harbor, Maryland) and 610 Magnolia (Louisville, Kentucky), so it’s not a surprise his recipe for succotash would incorporate gochujang. If you don’t have this Korean red fermented chili paste in your cupboard, harissa (a red chili paste from northwest Africa) could be swapped out. In a pinch, cayenne or jalapeno could be used, too. However, I love that special umami the gochujang brings.

To make a Spicy Succotash with Edamame, which yields six servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 5 ears fresh corn (for 4 cups of kernels)

• 2 tablespoons milk (2-percent or whole)

• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt

• 2 teaspoons gochujang

• 1 garlic clove

• 6 ounces shelled edamame

• ¼ cup diced red peppers

• Salt and pepper

• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
  

This simple recipe can come together in less than 30 minutes (including prep). Here’s how to do it.

How to make Spicy Succotash with Edamame

In a large skillet, heat oil and butter together. Cut the kernels off the cobs. A good hack is to place the cob on top of a bundt and shave the corn into the pan.

When the butter starts to foam, add the corn and saute for about 3 minutes.

Transfer 1 cup of corn into a blender. Add garlic, gochujang, milk, and yogurt. Puree until the mixture resembles a smooth chowder (you want to see some of the corn’s integrity intact).

Add the edamame, red pepper, and pureed corn to the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 additional minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh herbs.

How to store leftover succotash

Keep this succotash in an air-tight container inside your refrigerator for up to a week. Because it has milk and sour cream, I don’t recommend freezing it. Other succotash recipes that do not use dairy can be frozen.

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About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Easy Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins

A simple sweet muffin mix is elevated with grated squash, canned pineapple, and walnuts.

Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins

Mornings can be tough. I envy people who pop out of bed with a smile, lay outfits out the night before so they can be clean and dressed in 20 minutes, and head out the door with a cheerful “have a great day.” I am not that person.

Even after a cup of coffee, I’m not a morning person. However, I recognize the value of breakfast, although preparing something prior to 10 a.m. is out of the question. Here’s where my Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins come into play. I bake a batch of these sunny, tasty, and most importantly, simple muffins at the start of my week. They help make my mornings a bit more palatable.

I also love this recipe because it uses that ubiquitous summer squash, zucchini. In August, zucchini is everywhere. These muffins are perfect when you have those last couple of zucchinis in your refrigerator.

Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins also are wonderful for a grab-and-go breakfast. These muffins have a denser crumb and lend a satisfying chew. Toss one or two with an apple in your bag and you’ll be fueled until lunch time. The sweetness of the pineapple makes these muffins kid-friendly, too, so they’ll work in a lunchbox. Let’s get baking.

To make Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins, the wet ingredients (egg, milk, pineapple, and zucchini) are blended before adding to dry ingredients.

To make a Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins, which yields 16 muffins, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 2 cups Original Bisquick mix

• 2/3 cup milk

• ¼ cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• ½ cup shredded zucchini

• ½ cup drained pineapple tidbits

• 4 ounces walnut pieces

• (Optional: ¼ cup whey protein powder)

How to make Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line muffin tins with baking cups or spray with non-stick.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and oil. In a separate bowl, combine baking mix, sugar, pineapple, and zucchini.

Add dry ingredients to wet and stir to create batter. Fold in walnuts.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Optional: If you want to give the muffins an extra protein punch, add ¼ cup of protein powder (I like Bobs Red Mill whey protein powder) to the dry ingredients. If the batter looks dry, add a few extra tablespoons of milk.

Will these muffins freeze?

These muffins will freeze beautifully. I usually keep them frozen and defrost in the microwave in the morning. If you don’t freeze muffins, store them in an air-tight container in your refrigerator.

Can I use other mix-ins with this recipe?

Absolutely! That’s the benefit of starting with a simple muffin mix. Swap 1 cup of mashed bananas in the recipe. Other pairings might include 1 cup fresh (or frozen, thawed) blueberries with ½ cup sliced almonds; ¾ cup shredded carrots with 1/3 cup golden raisins; 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries with ½ cup chopped pecans, and 3 additional tablespoons of sugar.

For many families, this is a busy back-to-school month, which makes grab-and-go breakfasts so attractive. Older children away at school also might appreciate a care package with Pineapple Zucchini Morning Muffins tucked in with their favorite teas and other home treats.