Pizza Loaf

I was looking through my mom’s old Pillsbury book the other day and let me say, thank goodness food photography has come as far as it has.  The pictures weren’t that exciting back then.  Mind you, the book is so old there’s barely any color left in the pictures.

I thought I’d look through for some new ideas that I could re-invent, and I saw the Pizza Loaf.  It looked like a pretty pizza.  For some reason, the recipe was full of ground beef, which was not more like a meat roll.  But I liked how it looked.

So I took my pizza dough recipe and put in (some of) my favorite pizza toppings and presto, a prettier way to eat pizza.  If you have a local Italian place to buy your dough, this recipe is pretty much non-existent, just check out the pictures and how to fold up.

Mine is not perfect looking; baking in a hot kitchen means my pizza dough was super soft, but you get the idea.  When my dough was ready, I flattened it to the width of my pan.  I then put the toppings down the middle like this.

Then I cut little slits on each side and simply brought them to the middle of the pizza.

I did the same on the other side and brought them to overlap each other. As you can see, I didn’t do it perfectly with the hot temperature that was in my kitchen that day.  I’m sure in your more evenly regulated kitchen it’ll turn out neater.  Make sure you post it if you make it and tag me in it so I can see!

Then, watch everybody tear it apart.  I tried to take a picture of it cut after, but literally, it was too deliciously messy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 2 cups (and more) all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 TAB olive oil

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into a small bowl, stir in yeast.  Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.  Add yeast mixture and oil and combine until dough is a sticky ball.  Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead dough until smooth, about a few minutes, adding more flour if needed. Transfer to lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until doubled in volume, about an hour depending on how warm your kitchen is.  Punch dough. Roll out to fit rectangular jelly roll pan.

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

• 2 TAB butter
• 2 TAB flour
• 2 garlic gloves
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan (optional)
• 1/2 lb bacon
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion
• 1/2 lb italian sausage
• 1 cup mozzarella, grated

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add garlic and whisk one minute.  Add flour and whisk two minutes.  Add milk slowly, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens.  Set aside to cool.

Spread desired amount of sauce down middle of dough.  Add toppings.  Cut on a diagonal into each side of the dough.  Bring each piece of dough towards middle, it’s okay if they overlap.

Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool and rip to shreds.