Plaited Pizza Bread from Pan, with Peppers, Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Mozzarella
I made this for my supper this evening, by way of a special request from a reader who asked me to remind him of how I make my twisty pizza-dough loaves... And also because, conveniently as could be... It was almost the only thing I could make from the contents of my nearly empty fridge!
Which just goes to show you! It is good to have an emergency roll of pre-made pizza dough at home! Many a time have I made wonderful meals using it... And more often than not, it is something other than a pizza!
This was a beautiful and delicious snack-food, quick and easy to make and wonderfully impressive-looking at the same time... And you've got to love that! Oh, absolutely!
The simple filling for my colorful and flavorful loaf, was made from 1 ball of mozzarella, 2 small red pointy peppers (or one regular red bell pepper), a handful of mildly spicy pimientos de padron, 4-5 halves of sun-dried tomatoes, salt, dried rosemary and oregano and a little olive oil.
The resulting loaf was packed with flavor and wonderfully aromatic with the added herbs and olive oil... Everything I needed for some tasty, good eating was right there, baked inside!
I began by turning on the oven to full power to start it getting nice and hot and in the meantime, by cutting the peppers into small, bite-size pieces and sautéing them in just a little olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Once the little green peppers began to wrinkle and turn slightly brown, I turned off the heat and added the sun-dried tomatoes, cut into relatively small pieces.
I tossed them through in the residual heat, so that they also got lightly coated in that tiny bit of olive oil... It doesn't take much! You don't want them to fry in the oil and get greasy- keep the pan basically dry... No one wants to eat a greasy loaf of bread!
Let the peppers and tomatoes cool off. Chop up your mozzarella into small cubes and unroll your pizza dough. Cut the dough down the middle length-ways so that you have 2 long sections of dough to work with... And you are ready to get filling!
Add a generous amount of peppers and mozzarella and then sprinkle with dried rosemary and oregano. Add just a little salt and pepper and then fold each of the lengths of dough shut. Once they are sealed, gently roll the tubes of dough over, so that the overlapping sections are in the bottom.
Now, using a sharp knife, make a cut down the length of each roll of dough, so that the filling is exposed.
Now, simply proceed to overlap the rolls of dough, knee side at a time, down the whole length in a simple plait like this.
Once the two lengths of dough are plaited together down the whole length, gently gather the dough together in a spiral, making sure to pat it down flat and firmly into shape. Arrange the dough as necessary to make sure that the filling is nicely exposed and lay the formed spiral loaf back into your frying pan. Drizzle,lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea-salt and then pop onto the stovetop on a high heat for 2-3 minutes, until the base is set and beginning to bake.
Now transfer to the oven and continue baking for 20-25 minutes at the highest setting- at least 200 C until golden brown and crispy and delicious!
And isn't that just a work of art and a work of wonder!?!
Also... I suppose you are wondering if I ate it all myself?
Well of course I did!!! What did you think?
As you know, I am not one for those dainty and delicate little haute cuisine créations... But big, bold and beautiful is also fine by me! Especially when it comes to food!
It didn't take much to pack this full of color and flavor... And it didn't take long for me to cut into it and take my first bite either!
Beautiful inside and out! That's the kind of thing that I am on about!
And this my friends... Is in my opinion... Just about as good as it gets! Who ever would think that such a wonderful creation can be made from such a mundane product as a store-bought pizza dough?
Other than me and you, that is?
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