Stuffed Italian Bread (traditional)

Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 4 hrs Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/4 ounce active dry yeast (one package)
• 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees f)
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 -8 cups all-purpose flour
• cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon butter, melted
• 1 lb sage sausage, loose
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese (sliced or grated)
• 1 (12 ounce) can spinach (or 12 ounces of cooked spinach frozen)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1/4 sweet onion

Recipe

• 1 place yeast in 1cup warmed water and let sit for 10-15 minutes until it starts to foam.
• 2 dissolve salt in remaining 2 cups of warm water.
• 3 place 5 cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. add yeast and salt mixtures and mix well. dough will still be wet and sticky.
• 4 either continue kneading the dough or place it in an electric mixer with a dough hook.
• 5 continue adding flour until the dough forms a kneadable mass. at this point, it will pull away from the mixing bowl or kneading surface on its own. typically, it's another 1-3 cups of flour.
• 6 once the dough has a satiny sheen and pulls away from mixing/kneading surfaces easily, knead for another 10 minutes, or knead with the dough hook in the electric mixer on low-medium for about 7-8 minutes.
• 7 remove dough from mixing bowl and place into an oiled bowl (olive oil works the best). flip the dough once to coat the top of the dough as well.
• 8 allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1-1,5 hours, until dough doubles in size.
• 9 once dough has risen, punch it down and knead again for either 5 minutes by hand or three minutes by machine. after re-kneading the dough, separate it into two equal portions.
• 10 if you're running low on space, place both dough balls into the same bowl (oil it again with olive oil if you don't feel it's slippery enough).
• 11 if you have enough space, place both halves into separate bowls, both oiled with olive oil.
• 12 allow the dough to rise again for about an hour (doubling in size).
• 13 while the dough is rising its second time, it's time to start the filling.
• 14 combine the loose sage sausage , sweet onion, and raw pine nuts into a large skillet.
• 15 brown sausage mixture until cooked.
• 16 drain excess liquid/fat.
• 17 once the dough has risen for its second time, remove one ball of dough at a time, and roll out flat (a rectangular shape is preferred).
• 18 in the center of the dough, place the cheese - roughly 3" in from any edge - right in the middle of the dough. use half of the filling for each loaf.
• 19 after the cheese is placed, layer the cheese with 1/2 package of spinach per loaf, and again with 1/2 of the sausage per loaf.
• 20 once all of the stuffings are laid in place, fold over the long edges of the dough, followed with the short edges. squeeze/roll the edges flat - this prevents leakage of the stuffing, and seals the bread shut.
• 21 coat the wooden peal with corn meal.
• 22 flip the stuffed and closed bread over, presenting the untouched side as the top. place both loaves on the corn meal coated wooden peal.
• 23 let the dough rise, covered, and in a very warm place, for another 40-50 minutes.
• 24 preheat oven to 350 (or 325, if you have a gas oven).
• 25 once ovens are hot and dough has risen, use a very sharp knife to make a slit down the top of the loaves - be careful and don't slice into the stuffing!
• 26 brush melted butter over the tops of both loaves.
• 27 once the loaves have risen again (i've gotten the best results after rising loaves on top of the heating oven), place in the oven to bake for 20-50 minutes. since ovens vary greatly, keep an eye on your bread. it only took me about 20 minutes in a gas oven, on a baking stone, heated to 350 on the dial (which was more like 375 in reality). the bread is ready when the top is a nice golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when you thump on it. the crust will be crunchy and hard. the insides will be tender and moist.
• 28 once bread is done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-40 minutes before serving.
• 29 to serve, slice into 1/2" wide slices. it's best served warm, but can also be warmed up in the microwave at about 15 seconds per slice, or in the toaster oven at 350 for about 5-7 minutes for as many slices as you can lay flat (or you could just toast it).