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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

#658 Peppperoni Pizza Loaf

It's that time of year again. We currently have about 1.5 inches of snow on the ground with a promise of a few more inches. I'm not complaining.

Around this time of year we begin to think of some unique gifts for friends. On occasion we give bread. If you enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches, you will love this recipe. (Yes, it is included at the bottom. Enjoy.)

Sunday and Monday we spent a good portion of the days baking bread. Two loaves on Sunday and three on Monday. Maryann is a great Sous Chef when I bake this loaf. It is one of her favorites. When you check the recipe you will find the requirement to chop pepperoni and green peppers.

I use a bread machine to mix my dough, no purist here. chuckle. This year I used the 1.5 pound recipe and baked them in a 1 pound pan. The steps are to mix the dough, turn it out onto a marble board, punch it down and put in the pan to rise. It is in the machine for almost an hour and a half, then under warm lights for another hour. I bake it in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. (preheat the oven.) After that, it has to cool on the rack. Next each loaf is put into a separate plastic bag and frozen until it is ready to wrap as a gift.

This year we decided to bake one loaf in the machine just to see how it would turn out. Photos of the various steps are shown below.

Rising.

Baked in the oven

Baked and cooling

Two ways to bake


Bagged and ready for the freezer.

Recipe:
PEPPERONI PIZZA LOAF
2 pound

1 cup water
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup finely chopped pepperoni (use slices and finely chop them)
1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
2 tomato paste (You can get this in a tube at Hen House)
4 cups bread flour
1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon bread machine yeast

Add ingredients according to the manufacturer’s directions. Use the bread dough cycle. Knead the dough 5 or 6 times. Let the dough rise for an hour. (You can divide the dough in half and put it in to two 1# bread pans.) Bake at 375ยบ for 30 minutes. Cool. Slice. Enjoy.

The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking. Better Homes and Gardens, 1999. Page 51.


#658

4 comments:

Skunkfeathers said...

My pet rock, Seymour, just don't me "don't even think about it...". He doesn't want a 3 alarm fire when it's 5 degrees and snowing outside.

Perhaps he's right... ;-)

shannon said...

that bread is divine.

Sandee said...

It looks and sounds delicious. What a neat way to spice up the bread. Beats going to a pizza parlor I'd bet.

Have a terrific day. :)

Karen said...

Yum!