Zapiekanka

I grew up thinking of French bread pizza as the stuff you got from Stouffer’s or the school cafeteria. You know, the halved piece of French baguette covered in pizza sauce and cheese, sometimes pepperoni. Easy enough to make at home, even as a vegan version.

One night I happened to mention to vegan boyfriend that I was having “French bread pizza” for dinner. I didn’t explain my version of pizza. He then later suggested we have it some time when I ‘m at his place- and as we’re discussing the shopping list, I found out we had totally different ideas of what French bread pizza is!

What he meant is Zapiekanka, a Polish street food. It’s traditionally made with a thick French bread with some of the interior scraped out, and filled with sautéed mushrooms, topped with cheese (Daiya works fine), and then with ketchup squirted on top.

Made that way- stuffed with vegetables, I wouldn’t even yell at congress for calling pizza a vegetable.

But I digress.

This bread was too thin to scoop out, but we did push vegetables into all the little nooks and crannies. This one has sautéed mushrooms, peppers and caramelized onions.

And since I hate mushrooms, this one is without.

I admit, I was initially a little snobby about the idea of ketchup on pizza- but this was awesome. Using really good vegetables makes all the difference.

While these weren’t entirely authentic because of the size of the bread, they were still really good. This would also make for a really quick dinner on days when you just don’t have much time!

Zapiekanka

• French bread, whatever size you like, sliced in half lengthwise.
• Sautéed vegetables, such as mushrooms, peppers and caramelized onions
• A handful of Dayia
• Ketchup

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. If the bread is thick enough, scoop out some of the center so that you’re left with a log-like impression.
3. Fill with sautéed veggies (or spread the veggies on the bread if it’s too thin).
4. Top with enough Daiya to cover.
5. Bake for 10 minutes (may turn on broiler for 1-2 minutes extra for extra browning), or until Daiya is melted.
6. Top with ketchup and serve!