Three Cheese Italian Sausage Bread

[AuburnJen 771]

3-Cheese Italian Sausage Bread

I love to make bread in any way, shape, or form.  I know that it's an intimidating process to many, however, this sausage bread is really not hard to make...no really......even though yeast is involved.  The yeast I used for this bread is a fast acting yeast formulated for pizza dough. I chose it because, it doesn't require additional "rise" time.  It's readily available in most grocery stores on the baking aisle with the other yeast products.

The dough for this bread requires a few minutes of kneading by hand but, no rise time otherwise, so, it's ready to go as soon as it's made.  I rolled it up filled with spicy Italian sausage, and a generous covering of shredded cheese.  It can be served as an appetizer with a marinara or cheese sauce for dipping or alongside a bowl of soup and salad.

You'll need:

pizza dough to equal approximately 2 lbs [recipe to follow]

1 lb spicy ground Italian sausage

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded provolone cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

garlic salt

1 beaten egg

2 Tbsp melted butter

marinara sauce for dipping

Seasonings:

2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp finely minced garlic

1 tsp dry Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp dry basil

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes [more or less to taste]

salt and black pepper to taste

To make the filling, cook the finely diced onion in a couple of drizzles of olive oil until translucent, seasoning with salt and black pepper to taste.  Add the ground Italian sausage and cook until no pink remains, then drain any excess fat from the pan.  Add the worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Italian seasoning and basil and cook for an additional 2 minutes.   Remove from the heat and add the chopped fresh Italian parsley.  Allow to cool while you prepare the dough.   

 

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat [like silpat] or parchment paper.

                                                                                                                          

To make the dough you'll need:

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour divided [plus add'l 1/2-3/4 cups for kneading]

2 envelopes *Fleischmann's pizza crust yeast

1 1/3 cup very warm water or milk [not boiling 125-130 degrees]

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 salt

4 Tbsp olive oil

Divide the flour. placing 2 1/2 cups in a medium mixing bowl.   In a separate bowl, add 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and olive oil. Add the water. and mix until fully combined. The flour and yeast need to be fully dissolved.

 

Add the wet ingredients to the flour in the other mixing bowl.

 

Mix until combined, then turn out onto a floured surface. The dough will be sticky and it will look like this...

 

 Knead for 3-4 minutes adding flour as needed. [not to exceed 1/2-3/4 cup]  Shape into a ball.

 

Flatten  the pizza dough pressing to roughly a 14 x 19 inch rectangle.  Spread the sausage over the dough leaving a 1 inch border around the edges.  Brush the border with the beaten egg wash.

 

Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.  Begin to roll from the longest side.  This takes patience, don't panic if your dough tears, dough has a way of repairing itself when baking and the cheese will act as a tasty glue.

 

Place seam side down on the baking sheet, shape and tuck the ends under to seal. .  Brush the top and sides with melted butter, and sprinkle with garlic salt and grated Parmesan cheese.  Reserve some butter to brush on top after removing from the oven.

 

 

Bake at 400° F for 30 minutes until golden.  Rest for 10 minutes on the counter minutes before cutting.  Slice into 1 inch slices, and serve as is or with marinara sauce for dipping.  Yield: 18 slices

Cook's note:

*The yeast looks like this....

http://melissassouthernstylekitchen.blogspot.com/2013/04/3-cheese-italian-sausage-bread.html

 

 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Yummy!

I hate being on a diet!

[alexwyattmommy 181]

You and me both.