prep ahead football food: stuffed french bread pizzas

If you happen to be at our house on a Sunday during the fall season, you can expect to be served some fattening football food.  This posting is more of a technique than it is a recipe because these pizzas can be customized in a variety of ways.  Last week, we served up some buffalo chicken french bread pizzas and  plain cheese ones for the kiddoes.  

We have made these pizzas so many different ways.  Here are a few options:  Sauté vegetables of your choice in olive oil and garlic. Then, top bread with sauce, veggie mixture and cheese.  Sauté spinach in garlic and olive oil.  Then, top french bread with kalamata olives, feta and spinach mixture.  OR Stuff breads with sausage and pepperoni.  Then, top bread with sauce, meat mixture and cheese.  So many options and so many ways to be creative!

Prep Ahead Plan:  These are great to prepare a few hours ahead of time especially if you are having guests over.  Once they arrive, pop these in the oven, slice them up and leave them on a serving tray for guests to pick at.  


Here is our recipe for buffalo chicken french bread pizzas!


1 large loaf of french bread, cut into 3 equal pieces then slice each piece as if you are going to make a sub (This leaves enough for 6 pizzas.  We used 4 for the buffalo chicken and the remaining 2 were plain cheese.  Use whatever sauce, cheese ratio you prefer for those and bake them the same amount of time as the buffalo ones).
1/2-3/4 of a  16oz jar pizza sauce (I use San Marzano)
olive oil
1/3 of a 12 oz bottle of buffalo sauce
1/4 cup of blue cheese crumbles
1 8oz ball of fresh mozzarella, cut into chunks*
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up (I use the all-natural pre cooked rotisserie chicken breasts)
1 t italian seasoning 


*If you like a cheesier pizza, top with additional shredded or fresh mozzarella before baking.
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Scoop out most of the bread from the inside of each of the french bread slices leaving them to look like empty bread boats.  Place them on a cookie sheet and drizzle each piece with olive oil (be sure to drizzle some on the crusts).
2.  In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients.
3.  Stuff 4 of the 6 french breads with the buffalo chicken mixture.  Top with more mozzarella for a cheesier pizza!
4.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crusts are brown and crunchy!