Pane Bianco 3 Ways

baked bread stuffed with pesto and sindried tomatoes on cooling rack

Print Recipe

Author Breathing and Cooking

Ingredients

3 cups 361 g unbleached all purpose flour (*see notes )
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast see notes if using instant yeast*
2 tsp diamond kosher salt *see notes if using fine salt!
1 large egg
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
3 Tbsp olive oil

For Baking

egg wash 1 egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
Coarse seas salt for sprinkling

Filling for sundried tomato pesto bread

3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
1/2 cup prepared pesto
1/2 cup oil packed sundried tomatoes drained, patted dry of excess oil and cut into small pieces

Filling for Caramelized onion bread

3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese
3/4 cup caramelized onions
1 Tbsp everything bagel seasoning

Filling for Sun-Dried Tomato & Caramelized Onion Bread

3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
1/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes drained, patted dry of excess oil and cut into small pieces
3/4 cup caramelized onions
1/3 cup fresh basil chopped

Instructions

You can mix this dough by hand or use a stand mixer with the dough hook
Proof yeast by putting it in the same bowl you'll be using to mix your dough. Pour warm milk and warm water over yeast and let stand 10 minutes to activate (it should be foamy). If you're using instant yeast you can skip this step, see notes*
Add all of the remaining dough ingredients to the proofed yeast mixture and combine until no traces of flour remain. Knead until a very smooth, soft dough has formed. This is a soft dough and If you're using your mixer it will stick a little to the bottom of the bowl, that's normal. If you're kneading by hand keep your hands lightly floured and I find it helpful to use a bench scraper to lift and turn dough during kneading.
Once dough is smooth, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a clean towel until doubled in size. This should take 45 min-1 hour, but go by the size of the dough over the amount of time it takes. If you're kitchen is warmer it may rise faster, if it's cool it could take longer.
While dough is rising get whichever topping you've decided on ready and line a baking sheet with parchment (if you don't have parchment, use a greased baking sheet)
Once dough has doubled, push on it gently to deflate and place on a floured work surface. Pat dough into a rectangle about 22" long by 8" wide.
Cover dough with your selected topping, leaving a 1" border around the edges. Starting on long side, roll dough up making sure to keep filling inside. Pinch seam to seal and place, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet.
Starting 1" from the end of the log, use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to make a 1" deep cut down the center of the dough to within 1" of other end.
Keeping the cut side up gently shape dough into an "S" shape, tucking the ends under the center of the "S". You can use your fingers to slightly "open" the cut portion for a more spread out final look once baked or leave it as is.
Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled (again, go by size rather than time), 45-60 minutes. prepare egg wash by beating one egg with one Tbsp water in a small bowl.
While rising preheat oven to 350. Once doubled, brush all over with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sea salt (skip salt and use Everything Bagel seasoning if you're making the caramelized onion version).
Bake 35-40 minutes. You may want to tent it with foil after 20-25 minutes if it looks like the filling is getting too dark.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes

The original recipe calls for unbleached bread flour. If you'd prefer to use bread flour, increase water to 1/3 cup.
I use Diamond kosher salt in all of my recipes. If using fine salt reduce to 1 1/4 tsp.
If using instant yeast reduce to 2 tsp and skip the proofing step. You can just start at step two combining all of the dough ingredients at the same time.
This bread can be stored, well-wrapped, at room temperature for a couple of days (if it lasts that long!). You can also double wrap and freeze for longer storage.