Pizza Pull Apart Bread

Directions

1. For the dough: Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. (To make by hand, place the yeast and sugar in a large bowl.)
2. Whisk in the warm milk, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
3. Add the butter, egg, flour, salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Beat on low speed with the dough hook for 3 minutes. (By hand, mix with a wooden spoon to combine.)
4. Increase the speed to medium and mix for an additional 5 minutes until smooth. The dough will be soft. (By hand, turn the dough onto the counter and knead until smooth and soft, about 5-10 minutes.)
5. First rise: Spray a bowl with cooking spray, place the dough inside and give it a turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, 60-90 minutes.
6. For the fillings: in a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, water, salt and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
7. In another small bowl, combine the softened butter, creamy garlic sauce salt and garlic powder. Set aside.
8. Have the pesto, two cheeses, sliced meatballs and pepperoni within easy reach.
9. To assemble: Spray a standard 9”×5” loaf pan with cooking spray and set one short end on a ramekin or something to raise one end of the pan and make assembly easier.
10. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (a little larger than a golf ball) and keep covered with a clean towel.
11. Flatten then gently roll one piece of dough into a rectangle about 5” x 3 ½” on a lightly floured surface. It doesn’t have to be perfect just roughly as wide x twice as tall as the loaf pan.
12. Spread about 1 ½ teaspoons of pesto all over the dough and top half with 1 ½ tablespoon mozzarella and ½ teaspoon parmesan. Fold in half lengthwise and place in bottom end of the prepared loaf pan, open side up.
13. Brush the flat side with a little of the garlic butter.
14. Roll the next piece of dough in the same manner and spread with 1 ½ teaspoons of the tomato sauce and top half with 1 ½ tablespoon mozzarella, ½ teaspoon parmesan and 2-3 slices each of sliced meatballs and pepperoni. Fold and place on top of the pesto piece in the pan, open side up, and brush the flat side with a little of the garlic butter.
15. Roll another piece of dough and spread with 1 ½ teaspoons of the garlic butter and top half with 1 ½ tablespoon mozzarella, ½ teaspoon parmesan. Fold and place on top of the tomato piece, open side up, and brush the flat side with garlic butter.
16. Continue in this manner, alternating pesto, tomato, garlic butter pieces, brushing each finished piece with garlic butter and stacking in the pan until you have a row of 4 flavors each with a little garlic butter between each one. You should have about 1-2 tablespoons of garlic butter left – this will be melted and brushed on the bread after baking.
17. Set the pan flat on the work surface and if needed, gently move the filled bread pieces to neatly fill the pan.
18. Second rise: Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until puffy, about 30-45 minutes. The tops should be just at the top of the pan.
19. During the last 15 minutes of rising, place an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat to 325°F.
20. Bake: place the pan in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Check halfway through baking, rotate the pan and if the top is browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil.
21. When golden brown, remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack.
22. Melt the remaining garlic butter then brush on the warm bread and sprinkle with a tablespoon of parmesan cheese.
23. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from the pan, gently running a knife around to load to loosen any sticky pieces. Serve immediately while hot with additional pesto, marinara sauce and/or garlic butter for dipping.