Pizza Pull Apart Bread

Awhile ago you might remember Mr B and I made this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread for a special Mothers Day breakfast....well seeing as we are stuck at home at the moment unable to do much besides watch for changes in the bushfires around us, I decided to make a savoury version of this for our dinner last night. This pizza pull apart does take maybe 2-3 hours to make from start to finish, but alot of that is rising time for your dough so don't think you will be chained to the kitchen the whole time, plus the end result is well worth it, our house smelt incredible and we sat down with some of Mr B's home brew alcoholic lemonade and just dug in - pure awesome-ness.

Straight out of the oven, the bread is soft and warm, the cheese is melty, the flavours are incredible and yes we demolished the whole thing and spent the rest of the night laying on the couch complaining about our expanding bellies but after a few hours recovery time, we totally would have devoured another one.....this is the ultimate date night / move night meal.

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

For the dough you will need:
2 cups plain flour plus 3/4 cups extra
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1/3 cup full cream milk
90g butter
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, at room temperature

For the filling you will need:
140g tub of tomato paste
1.5 cups of shredded pizza cheese (we used a combination of mozarella, cheddar and parmesan)
150g of sliced salami
1 tomato, diced
1tbspn butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the dough hooks ditted, add the 2 cups of plain flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Stir until just combined with a spoon.

In a microwave safe jug, add the milk and 90g butter. Heat for 60 seconds and then stir until the butter had melted. Add the water. Allow the mixture to cool to around 45-50C before pouring over the dry ingredients.

Use the dough hooks of your electric mixer to knead the dough on low speed until everything is fully incorporated - this should take around 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, kneading in between each addition.

Add 1/2 cup of the remaining plain flour, kneading it on low speed until the dough is smooth. Add 3 more tablespoons of plain flour and knead until just combined. Remove the bowl from your mixer stand. Using one hand you should be able to work the dough, kneading it gently, until it just comes together into a ball. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to proof in a warm, dry place for one hour. During this time it should roughly double in size.

Preheat the oven to 180C

Gently deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a rectangle measuring roughly 50cm x 25cm.

Spread the tomato paste over the dough and sprinkle with 3/4 of the cheese. Arrange the salami and tomato over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Trim the edges of the dough so you have straight sides along the rectangle.

Cut the rectangle (width-wise) into 5 equal strips. Cut each strip into 4 equal squares so you have a total of 20 squares. Stack the strips on top of one another so that you have 5 piles each consisting of 4 squares. 

 

Lightly grease a 9"x5" loaf pan. Stack the squares in the centre of the pan against each other, cut-sides down. It's ok if you have extra space on both sides because they will expand.

Lightly cover the pan with plastic wrap and let it proof for 30 minutes.

Place the loaf pan on a baking tray to ensure the bottom doesn't burn and bake it for 15 minutes.

Stir together the melted butter and minced garlic. Remove the pan from the oven and brush the top of the loaf with the garlic butter. Return it to the oven to continue baking for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before turning the loaf out onto a serving plate.

All that's left to do now is pour yourself a drink, chuck a good dvd on and dig in!

 

Mrs B xx