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5 from 2 votes

PROVOLONE PULL-APART BREAD

A yeast based Italian bread that is so filled with cheese and mortadella. This bread is so much fun to make and even more fun to eat!
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pull-apart, yeast
Servings: 1 loaf
Author: Lora

Equipment

  • 1 9x5x3-inch loaf

Ingredients

  • 1 cup warm water about 110 degrees
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 3 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup provolone cut in chunks Gouda or Fontina also are great
  • 1 cup) sliced mortadella omit if you’d like it meat-free or even sub with salami or ham

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, add the water and sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil and whisk together. Set aside.
  • In large mixing bowl, add the flour and 3 teaspoons of salt; whisk together or mix together on low speed in your mixer. Whisk the egg into the yeast mixture.
  • Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add about half of the flour mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula until it is combined. Attach the dough hook to your mixer and add the remaining flour.
  • Form the dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl (when I put the dough in the bowl I swish the dough around the bottom of the bowl and then flip it over so all of the dough is covered in a light film of oil). Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about 1-1 1/2 hours).
  • Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and roll the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter. Divide it into two strips. Brush top portion of the first strip with olive oil.
  • Add your filling with about 2 inches space between each portion along the strip. Fold over the bottom half onto the top oiled half and press down gently.
  • Fold over the bottom half onto the top oiled half and press down gently.
  • Brush the folded dough with a little olive oil. With a pizza cutter or knife slice your individual filled pockets squares.Take care to not slice the filling. You can sort of feel the cheese and slice a bit away from it.
  • Stack your pockets in a parchment lined loaf pan. (I ended up with some extra cheese pockets and baked them individually while baking the loaf on a cookie sheet. They were like mini calzones. You may end up with not enough sections. You could sort of shake the pan you could wiggle the pan a little so that the dough parts fill the pan. Don’t worry too much about that as they will fill up more as it rises again and then bakes). Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise again for 30 to 45 more minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • Brush on an egg wash and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for a few minutes before pulling out the bread with the parchment paper. Best enjoyed as we did-hot out of the oven! Who had the patience to wait for this delicious bread?;)