Stuffed Pizza

I love these pizzas. In fact I might just make them for Friday night dinner. These ingredients are just a guideline. Use any kind you want for stuffing. I add prosciutto quite often instead of soprassata. I also sprinkle extra parm on top. I added the tomatoes because I like them with my pizza. You can also use spinach, fresh tomatoes, basil, mushrooms, or whatever toppings you wish. This is just a guide.

Super Stuffed French Bread Pizza Rustica
Recipe Adapted from Rachel Ray

1 (2 foot long) loaf Italian or French bread (Ciabatta is ok, long with some width is what we’re going for- a baguette won’t really work)1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I use hot but that’s me)1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 small onion, chopped 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes, dicedSalt and pepper 1 1/2 cups part skim ricotta 1/2 cup grated Parmesan 1/2 pound sweet sopressata, from the deli, sliced thick, chopped (optional)1/2 stick pepperoni, chopped 1 sack (10 ounces) shredded mozzarella 1 sack (10 ounces) shredded provolone 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Split bread lengthwise and hollow it out. Cut in half across, making 4 shells for pizzas.
Heat a skillet over medium high flame and brown sausage in extra-virgin olive oil. Brown and crumble sausage. (Remove the casings.) Add red bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, add tomatoes. Remove mixture from heat and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper, to your taste.
Transfer to a bowl. Combine sausage and veggies with ricotta, Parmesan, sopressata and pepperoni. Fill bread shells and top with mounded mozzarella and provolone cheeses. Place in hot oven on cookie sheet and bake until cheese melts and bubbles and bread is super crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Top pizzas with oregano and hot pepper flakes. Serve immediately, or snack all night!