Are you ready for a delicious and versatile bread? This is it! This bread can be used as a side dish, sandwich bread or you can make my panini sandwiches (recipe below). Also, if you don’t want to make the flat bread base from scratch or just need to save time, you can use pre-made pizza dough instead.
Base:
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. quick-rise yeast (I use regular yeast and let the bread rise 40 min. instead of 20 – you could also use 2 tbsp. of regular yeast)
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees or so)
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Topping:
- ¼ to 1/3 cup prepared Italian salad dressing
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. dried oregano
- ¼ tsp. dried thyme
- dash pepper
- 1 tbsp. grated parmesan
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
In a bowl, combine first four ingredients. Combine warm water and oil; add to flour mixture. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead for 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth & elastic.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place 20 minutes (or 40 minutes if using regular yeast and not quick-rise).
Punch the dough down; place on a greased cookie sheet. Brush with salad dressing. Combine seasonings; sprinkle over top. Sprinkle with cheeses.
Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown (watch it so you don’t cook it too long – the cheese will be light brown when it’s ready). If you are using the bread for sandwiches, it will be easier to slice the bread if you let it rise another 15 minutes or so before cooking (the extra rise will make the bread a little thicker and thus easier to slice). If you’re using it as a side, you don’t need the second rise.
Paninis
- 9 oz. package deli turkey
- 9 oz. package deli ham
- 16 oz. package bacon (be sure it’s the thinner slices – not the thick cut)
- 8 slices provolone
- lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise
Make bread as directed above. Cut off the edges (the part that doesn’t have toppings on it) and toss. Cut remaing bread into eight rectangles and gently slice each rectangle horizontally. Cook bacon. Assemble sandwiches so that each sandwich has approximately 1/8 of ham, 1/8 of turkey, one slice of cheese, a couple pieces of bacon. Put sandwich together, wrap in foil and heat in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato slices and mayonnaise.
The Panini sandwich recipe is my own invention so if you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to contact me.
I made the bread for dinner last night. Everyone loved it. It was really easy and tasted so good. Thanks for the recipe!!
So glad everybody liked it.