Since my sister met her husband, she has been willing to try all sorts new and interesting things which is amazing since she is normally a really picky eater (she doesn’t even like sub sandwiches). I know she has eaten escargo, so I am pretty sure she has had oysters. I am not sure if she had them cooked or raw though. I have to admit that the Gulf oysters in the picture above don’t look too bad to try.

That being said, if you are going to eat raw oysters you do need to be careful. I came across Be Oyster Aware, and I learned about a ton of things I never knew before. For example, there is a bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus that can make you really sick if you are an at risk individual (lowered immune system, pregnant, cancer, diabetes, etc). I knew that you have to be very careful with what you eat when you are pregnant, but I had no idea about the other conditions. However, if the oysters are fully cooked, then you should not have to worry. The other cool thing is that they have some oyster recipes to try out. They even have a Chicago-Style Oyster Pizza!

1 loaf (1 lb) frozen bread dough, thawed
1/4 cup prepared pasta sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped pepperoni
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Generously coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out dough to a 10 inch square on a floured surface. Spread pasta sauce over dough. Reserve 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese for later. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the sauce. Top with pepperoni. Roll dough jelly style to enclose filling.

Cut roll crosswise into 10 slices. Place slices cut slide down on the baking sheet. Brush tops with oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan and reserved mozzarella cheese. Bake until golden brown (about 15 minutes). Serve immediately.

This was the recipe I was given for this. However, the next time I make this, I would at least double the mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, and pasta sauce.

1/2 jar (8 oz) of Ragu cheese Creations! Double Cheddar Sauce
1 medium tomato chopped
5 slices of bacon crisp cooked and crumbled (you can also use tastefully Simple Bacon Bacon — it would be about 1/3 of a cup)
1 loaf of Italian bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine Ragu cheese Creations! Double Cheddar Sauce, tomato (as you can see from the picture, I did not use the tomato part of this recipe — Bill doesn’t really care for warm tomatoes — however they were still good without it), and bacon. On a baking sheet, arrange bread slices and top with sauce mixture. Bake 10 minutes or until sauce mixture is bubbling.