Real Pizza Bread

As opposed to fake pizza bread?

Apparently I already have a post titled "Pizza Bread", and it's pizza fillings inside of mini bread boats. I wish I had titled that something else, like Pizza Bread Boats....

This is a legit loaf of bread filled with delicious pizza toppings. To get Dan to eat it I had to scale back on the toppings I would actually include. I would have included some chopped sun dried tomatoes, but apparently when I ordered Dan to clean out our entire fridge and freezer on Monday night I let him throw away the almost new package of them in the fridge. Bummer... What else would I like to add? Some green onions, maybe some diced green or red peppers, and some garlic powder to the dough. And more cheese....things can always use more cheese...

Other than the wait time for the dough to rise, this recipe is super simple. You can take my word for it because I almost never make "real" bread. The kind with yeast, that has to rise, and then rise again, etc. I like to throw everything in a bowl, stir it, dump it into a pan and bake it. That might be why I have about 6 different banana bread recipes on this blog...

But really, no kneading or punching required, just some chopping of ingredients, stirring, rolling out some dough, rolling up some dough and baking. It's a great recipe if you're not experienced with yeast breads, which is me.

Real Pizza Bread
adapted from Inspired by Charm

1.5 cups warm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
3 and 1/3 cups flour
1.5 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups of chopped fillings of your choice (I used pepperoni, black olives, real bacon bits, and minced garlic)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella (or whatever you'd like, I did 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 pizza blend)

1. In a large bowl, add the warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let sit for 3 minutes.
2. Add the flour, sugar, and salt and stir until just combined. Add the toppings and Parmesan and mix until well combined. If the dough still feels too tacky, sprinkle in a little more flour.
3. Let sit and rise for 1 hour. Move to the refrigerator and let sit for another hour.
4. Preheat oven to 450 and lightly flour a work surface.
5. Roll out your dough into an 11x17 rectangle. Top with shredded cheese and fold the edges in so the cheese isn't exposed. I just folded in each side and sealed the edges. Just make your prettier than mine...
6. Let it sit while the oven preheats.
7. Bake on a baking sheet or pizza stone for 35 minutes. After 20 minutes, I placed a piece of foil on top of my bread so didn't get too dark.
8. Let cool, slice, and enjoy!

Chicken, Bacon, and Broccoli Alredo Stuffed Shells

Cooking actual meals and pregnancy don't mix. At least not for this preggo. Most nights I have no desire to eat a meal, let alone cook one. I've been settling for easy foods, such as cut up fruits and veggies, and have had quite an aversion to meats. For some reason, the texture of most chicken and steak just makes me gag. Sweets however have been more of a craving. So with the rarity of meats and increased sweets consumption I know that pregnancy can really throw off your normal meal habits.

Last night I made a BBQ beef and biscuit casserole, which is a variation of a dish I've made numerous times, so nothing to really blog about. I was able to eat a bunch of ground beef, so that was pretty good since I haven't eaten too much meat lately. Tonight, there was some chicken in my shells, so another way I've added some meat back into my diet. Although, as I was eating dinner, I was mostly thinking about the bowl of cherries and blackberries I'm about to have as my nighttime snack. Basically, if it's fresh and cold, I'll eat it.

I LOVE stuffed shells. Traditional, ricotta-filled, red sauce smothered shells. Dan, however, isn't much of a red sauce guy. Every now and then he'll eat some lasagna or pasta with red sauce, but it's rare. He's more of an Alfredo or butter/oil and garlic kind of guy. I'll eat anything, so I can usually be accommodating. These shells have everything he will eat, chicken, bacon bits, cheese, Alfredo sauce and broccoli (one of the 4 veggies he'll eat). They're also pretty easy to throw together if you use a rotisserie chicken (like I did) and some steamer broccoli florets (like I did) and just have to chop them up.

It was also 90 degrees today. So I only ate a few, because the heat and my general disliking of heavy hot foods lately wouldn't let me have any more than that.

Now I'm off to go get my bowl of blackberries and cherries...

Chicken, Bacon, and Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells
adapted from Sweet Dash of Sass

25 or so jumbo pasta shells, cooked al dente and drained
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups chopped cooked broccoli
2 (16 oz) jars Alfredo sauce divided
Chopped bacon (optional)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 cup shredded Mozzarella
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven 350 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, broccoli, 1 jar of Alfredo sauce, cheeses, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spread the other jar of Alfredo sauce on to bottom of the prepared baking dish.
4. Stuff the shells and arrange in the dish.
5. Cover with foil and cook for 35 minutes.

 

 

A little extra Alfredo sauce for the top would have been better!