The Joy of Looking: Baguette Apizza

Do I only eat pizza, you ask? Well, in a perfect world and in my version of Heaven, yes. Only good pizza, of course (I affix the prefix "a" to pizza that makes the cut).

So, this "pizza" is really more like bruschetta or an open-face panino, but what the hey.

These were created after a visit to a ten year anniversary celebration at Roots Market in Olney, MD. However, ingredients were items I almost always have on-hand. Just add a freshly baked baguette and you have dinner (or at least a very sharable appetizer).

Assembling these things is not rocket science, but ingredients are vital. For example, I like the firm, fresh mozzarella that comes bobbing around in liquid or that can be plucked directly from the liquid at an olive bar. When combining cheeses along an Italian theme, I like gorgonzola with my mozz. Plain, pitted calamata olives add oodles of flavor to everything and marinated artichoke hearts are divine. As always, fresh herbs are the icing on the savory cake.

I don't need to do much explaining, but here's the play-by-play on putting these babies together.

Start with the freshest and best baguette readily available.

I wanted options, combinations, variety, so I split mine down the center short-ways and then split those halves long-ways into long, clean working surfaces.

Each surface got a healthy spread of olive oil and kosher salt. Then I added Roots' own cilantro pesto in large swaths across two of the pieces.

These got toasted up a bit under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes to minimize sogginess.

Add the ingredients in whatever combination you like. I started with the "fruits" if you will.

The pesto pieces each got ripe, drained tomato slices. The olive-oil pieces got calamata olives and artichoke hearts.

Then come the cheeses and herbs.