Weekend Carnivore

We have all been there. You have more on your to do list than you could possibly fit into your day but you still need to find time to feed your family. The temptation is to reach for the takeaway menus or the ready meals but you would much rather cook a quick and easy meal.

It was during just such a period that I developed my red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe. Truth be told, I feel a bit dramatic even calling it a recipe because it is so simple and easy to put together. All you need to do is take a quick trip around your local supermarket to collect the items that make up the ciabatta pizza recipe and within 15 minutes of returning home you can be serving up a meal.

I feel no shame either in saying that all of the ingredients for my red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe all came from Lidls. Some foodies can really look down their noses at the Lidls and Aldis of this world. However, there is no shame in buying affordable food and considering the prices, both stores have some quality hidden gems on their shelves.

Due to their reach across the continent, they have managed to bring in ingredients from all of the other countries where they do business. Amongst those items are some interesting Italian ingredients ranging from various types of pesto, nice cheeses and really nice antipasti. I am particularly fond of the jarred mixed mushrooms and I have used them in this recipe.

The great thing about this red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe though is that if you don’t have or like a particular ingredient you can just swap it out for another item. Also, if you have family members who aren’t ready to go fully vegetarian then you can put slices of meat on their part of the ciabatta pizza recipe.

Red Pesto Ciabatta Pizza

Red pesto ciabatta pizza recipe

Ingredients:

1 ciabatta loaf, if part-baked bake it until just underdone
70 grams onions, thinly sliced
115 grams red pesto
200 grams shredded cheese (I used a reduced fat cheddar and mozzarella mix)
130 grams roasted red peppers from a jar, diced
125 grams antipasti mushrooms from a jar

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven grill.
2. Slice the ciabatta loaf in half lengthwise and put on a baking sheet.
3. Lightly sauté the sliced onions using a cooking spray or a tiny bit of oil just until they have lost their bite.
4. Spread the red pesto evenly over the two halves of the ciabatta
5. Sprinkle the cheese over both sides of the bread.
6. Pile up the rest of the ingredients making sure each half of the bread has roughly the same amount.
7. Stick the baking sheet under the grill and cook for about 7 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to go golden. Keep a close eye on it to make sure it isn’t starting to burn.
8. Slice both long halves into slices width wise.

Serves: 4

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