Ciabatta Pizza Bread.
I swear that after today, no more bread!
This week has been a bit bread heavy. Cheesy pesto garlic bread AND pizza on a loaf of bread. For someone who doesn’t live and die by a loaf of bread (I can easily pass up the bread basket but dessert? Never.), it means that these two quick little “recipes” (or let’s say… methods? Throw together meals? Trashed up snacks?) MUST be good.
This is it! I promise. I saved the best for last.
I mean… it’s a PIZZA LOAF. It will take you 30 minutes, tops. Cover your bread with cheese and call it a day.
Tell me why why why I never thought to make a quick little pizza on ciabatta bread? I’ve done French bread, pita bread, bagels, tortillas and even naan – but never a ciabatta bread. Also, I haven’t even made one of these breads recently. I almost always make my own dough and it becomes a production – albeit a delicious one – and the cleanup is insane because I essentially throw flour everywhere.
Cleaning as I go will NEVER happen. Ever.
French bread pizzas were one of the first recipes I shared on the site. They are so easy and versatile and I’m not too proud to admit that we used to throw back a Stouffer’s French bread pizza every now and then when I was a kid. And the mac and cheese too. The burnt and bubbly cheese parts. I caaaaan’t.
But anyway.
There are a few things I love about the ciabatta pizza loaf though. First, the loaf of bread is wider than the French bread so it can serve more people. It makes dinner seem more substantial in this millennial world where it’s all about how we FEEL. You know?
Second, the bread is so wonderfully chewy and when the outside toasts in the oven, it’s a texture lover’s dream. Even though bread would never be my drug of choice, if I had to pick one bread to eat on it’s own, it would certainly be a ciabatta if for the chewiness alone.
GAH. It’s so good.
Every time I share a pizza photo on Instagram, I get lots of questions about what sauce I use, what cheese is my favorite and where the mini pepperonis come from! The toppings on this bread are exactly what I’m doing now for homemade pizza dough too.
When it comes to sauce, well… you guys know I don’t love tomato sauce. On pizza it’s fine because hello, it’s PIZZA. But I have zero desire to make my own. Back in the day, I used Mids. Then I started using this DeLallo’s sauce and just last month, moved to the cherry tomato sauce from DeLallo’s because it’s sort of sweet and perfect for margherita pizzas, which usually have my favorite sauce.
Cheese? Oh hi, you’re talking to the queeeen. I like a mixture of three cheeses, plus finely grated parmesan for topping. I tend to go with provolone, mozzarella and fontina, all freshly grated (this makes a ha-yuge different in melt quality!) and if I only have two on hand, that’s fine too. But definitely a mix.
I love to brush my dough or bread with olive oil and sprinkle it with garlic powder. Yes, I know fresh garlic reigns supreme, but unless I’m mincing ten cloves, I won’t get the even flavor. So garlic powder it is.
Also! A sprinkle of dried basil and oregano IN the toppings makes for so much flavor. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle it over the sauce and sometimes over the cheese – whenever I remember.
I used to be a super plain pizza gal – cheese only and lots of it – but when I was pregnant with Max I stopped loathing pepperoni. So weird. I don’t like huge slabs of meat though (save your jokes please), so the tiny pepperoni are key! This way, I can put a ton of it on Eddie’s side of the pizza and be a bit more sporadic on my side. I find the mini pepperoni by Hormel at my grocery store.
I finish the whole thing off with a sprinkle of fresh basil and oregano and a touch more cheese. Of course. I mean, who do you think I am? But for REAL, this is my perfect pepperoni pizza method and it gets rave reviews. It’s so easy but the little things like the spices and three cheeses make a difference in the total package.
And when you put it on ciabatta bread, you can serve it to all your friends this week! With lots of beergaritas. Wins all around.
Ciabatta Pizza Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread sliced in half lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup freshly grated provolone cheese
- 1 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated fontina cheese
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese plus extra for topping
- mini pepperoni for sprinkling
- fresh basil and oregano for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Drizzle the olive oil over the sliced ciabatta bread. Sprinkle with the garlic powder. Spread the marinara over top and cover with the dried basil and oregano.
- Mix the cheeses together. Evenly sprinkle them over the sauce. Top with the pepperoni. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and top with extra parmesan and the fresh herbs. Slice and serve.
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I appreciate you so much!
Just look at the meltiness!
31 Comments on “Ciabatta Pizza Bread.”
I don’t think there is any such thing as too much bread. At least for me.
Plus this looks delicious.
http://aneducationindomestication.com
How have I never thought of this? It’s utter genius!
this is so simple yet genius! love ciabatta bread!!
Love ciabatta bread..this is such a good idea!!! And there’s never too much bread in my world..deffffinitely one of my biggest weaknesses.
I think you’re my dream girl.
I need this in my life right nowwww! There is never, ever too much bread.
I’m so with you–I will NEVER clean as I go. I just read an article on The Kitchn last night about how to cook all day and not make a huge mess. And I just laughed all the way through it.
Anyway, gotta make pizza on ciabatta now!!!
This pizza looks so yummy! I wish I was having some for lunch right now!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
This is one of those recipes where you just stare at it and think, “why have I not been doing this??” Homemade pizza dough recipe thrown out!
OMG YUM!! And it seems too easy!! Can you specify: do you bake the pizza breads directly on the oven racks or on a baking sheet? THANK YOU!!
Those toppings! Looks like my kind of pizza…
Love me some pizza, especially with those cute mini pepperonis!
God those mini pepperoni! I die.
It’s just a perfect snack for a lunch! And let’s be honest – who doesn’t love pizza?
Could not get these ciabatta pizzas out of my head once I saw them. So…I finally had a chance to make them today. So so good!
I made this for last night for Super Bowl Sunday, and OMG it was incredible, it was eaten in 40 seconds lol. Thank you so much for sharing!!
I love pizza and I love ciabatta, so I’m definitely going to try this! It looks so good.
I love Mid’s pizza sauce but my grocery store recently stopped carrying it and I’m heartbroken about it! :'(
My house has had this and your buffalo chicken french bread pizza for dinner twice this week! We bought a big loaf of ciabatta and made pepperoni on one half and buff chicken on the other! And by my house I mean me and the person I am married to that also lives in my house. 2 people + 2 whole loves of ciabatta + 4 days = Happiness
Looks sooo good! I’ve never seen those little pepperonis before either !
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How were you able to get your cheese toasty brown? I’m wondering if you torched it or broiled for a few minutes? I made this tonight and it was a disaster! The sauce completely soaked my ciabatta bread making it soggy coming from the oven and my cheese didn’t turn golden brown at all after being in the oven 20 minutes. Did I do something wrong? Seems like a simple enough recipe and I usually have no issues…
When ever I make any type of pizza or saucy sandwich I toast the bread first before putting the sauce down! So kind of like make garlic bread with it then go from there. I hope that helps!☺️
This looks so awesome, I may have to try it this weekend! Hope you got your fill of baby snuggles in Ohio!
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I think you would love King Arthur Flour’s pizza seasoning. It’s got a nice kick.