Tomato, Basil, & Garlic Filled Pane Bianco

April 16, 2013 by MyKitchenInHalfCups 18 Comments

I must apologize to Natashya. Living In The Kitchen With Puppies (Natashya ) our most wonderful Kitchen of the Month, gave us a glorious recipe … for white bread and I used almost half white whole wheat and added ground flax seed. Sigh, then when it came time for the kneading … I reached for the whole wheat, really I did. Still, I really like the look, the crumb and for sure the taste. Then when the recipe called for 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder, well, I haven’t had any of that in my house for maybe 30 years. Since, I had just bought a long stocking of fresh garlic, there was just no way I was going to the store for 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder. So, I’m really sorry Natashya, I really played with the recipe … oh and oops, I had a really bad senior moment and forgot to add the cheese to the tomato, garlic filling but hey what’s cheese for if not to put between two slices of a loaf and grill it! Oh yes it is a glorious bread. Thank you Natashya for inviting me to play. And thank you King Arthur.

There are those of us who obsess about somethings. Like measurements. I’m not one of those. Especially I’m not one of those when life tries to keep me in sleepless chaos. Amazing how you can be totally exhausted, even falling asleep sitting up but as soon as you get horizontal, the brain leaps into high gear and starts reviewing every thing that’s got you tied to the worry wart and your eyes are wide open all night. So while I can’t be bothered to obsess about measurements, Elizabeth takes care of all that obsessing for me. (Not being one to name names.) This is the kind of recipe I would look at and think “WAY to much yeast.” No slow rise with flavor develop with this one. BUT I’m getting a different picture lately. Ordinarily I’d have been inclined to make it a tablespoon. Since Elizabeth raved about the oven rise and I was using some whole wheat, I went with the 4 teaspoons. I did put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes and let it rise then about an hour and a half.

As to the sugar … I’m at the end of a bag of brown sugar that’s gotten a little dry … so I used a clot (sort of like a big pinch). See how carefully I measure.

Gosh, I’m beginning to feel rather heretical. Normally, I go with the metric measures. I really like just pouring flour from the bag into the bowl on the scale. For some reason known only to the cosmos, I used the cup measures. Go figure.

Tomato, Basil, & Garlic Filled Pane Bianco

Recipe from: King Arthur Flour’s website adapted by Natashya
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients by volume:
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 1/4 cup sugar ~ sigh, couldn’t do it, just a pinch
* 4 teaspoons instant yeast
* 1 cup warm skim milk
* 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons salt ~ didn’t really measure
* 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
* 1 (8 1/2-ounce) jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
* 5 heads garlic, roasted, yes really
* 1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese, forgotten but topped with parmesan
* 2/3 cup chopped fresh basil ~ not quite

1) Combine the water, sugar (I used just a pinch), yeast, milk, olive oil, eggs, salt, and flour, and mixed and kneaded by hand, until you’ve made a cohesive, soft dough. By hand, the dough formed a smooth ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and turn to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes. To roast my garlic and let it cool, I wanted a slightly slower rise. A twenty minute rest in the fridge followed by an hour and a half rise on the counter worked very well.

2) Meanwhile, thoroughly drain the sun-dried tomatoes; lay them on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Using kitchen shears, finely chop the tomatoes.

3) Line two baking sheets with parchment. Gently deflate the dough and divide it in half. Roll one piece into a 22″ x 8 1/2″ rectangle. Sprinkle on half the garlic, cheese, basil, and tomatoes.

4. 4) Starting with one long edge, roll the dough into a log the long way. Pinch the edges to seal.

5) Place the log seam-side down on a baking sheet. Using kitchen shears, start 1/2″ from one end and cut the log lengthwise down the center about 1″ deep, to within 1/2″ of the other end.

6) Keeping the cut side up, form an “S” shape. Tuck both ends under the center of the “S” to form a “figure 8”; pinch the ends together to seal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes.

7) For the second loaf, I played with a different shape. Filled and rolled the same way but cut the ends became the center buds and the log cut into triangles.

8) While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.9) Bake the first loaf for 35 to 40 minutes. Tent the loaf with foil after 15 to 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Bake the remaining loaf.

10) Remove loaves from their pans; cook on racks. Store any leftovers well-wrapped, at room temperature.

Because I forgot the cheese in the filling, I tried several slices on the grill … OH MY OH MY what a glorious cheese sandwich.

Want to try this bread with us? You know you do! If you wanna give this one a bake too, you’re all very welcome to bake along as our Bread Baking Buddy. Bake, tell us what your thoughts are about it, blog and send it all to Living In The Kitchen With Puppies (Natashya ). Here’s the scoop from Natashya: I invited the Bread Baking Babes to have fun with this bread, and all Buddies and home bakers are welcome to join in. If you would like to bake this delicious bread – bake it up, blog it, and let us know how you liked the experience. Send me a link by April 26th, and a medium-sized photo if I can’t get one from your site, to kitchenpuppies AT gmail DOT com – I’ll put up a round-up on the 27th. Send an e-mail with Buddy for Tomato Basil & Garlic Filled Pane Bianco. Really, you’ll enjoy this even if you don’t use five heads of garlic.