Onion Prosciutto Bread
I have made a lot of different breads in my life. This is one of my absolute favorites. The bread has a wonderful, chewy texture and is studded with onions, garlic and the smoky flavor of prosciutto. It can also be made with pepperoni instead of the proscuitto What’s not to love?
I first made this bread a long time ago. I even shared the recipe in bread baking classes. I only had the recipe in hard copy and at one point, I could not find it. Over time, I kind of forgot about it. Until a little over a year ago when I was going through a pile of old recipes and found it!! I decided to make it right away. It is every bit as good as I remember. I have shared slices of this bread with friends. The feedback has been great.
I made a few minor changes to the original recipe- a little more garlic and salt, but that was it. You don’t want to mess around with perfection. 🙂
I got a request for this bread from a friend whose mom is under the weather. I had shared this bread with her before. So I decided to make it again today.
I love the bread toasted and buttered.
Onion Prosciutto (or Pepperoni) Bread
1 packet active dry yeast
¼ t. sugar
1⅔ c. warm water, 105-115 degrees F, divided
4-4½ c. flour
1 T. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 large onion, minced- about 1-1½ cups
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz. prosciutto or pepperoni, minced- 1½ cups
Cornmeal
1 egg
2 t. water
In large mixing bowl, combine 1/3 cup warm water with the sugar, 3 tablespoons of the flour and yeast. Stir until dissolved and let sit until mixture gets bubbly, about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the water, 3 cups of the flour and the salt. Stir until well mixed. Add enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface. Let rest 3 minutes, then knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Dough should be on the soft side. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm place until dough has doubled in size. While dough is rising, prepare the onion mixture. Sauté the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until just tender, about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Set aside to cool and stir in the prosciutto. Once the dough has risen, punch down and place on a floured surface. Roll dough out into a circle, about ½-inch thick. Sprinkle the onion-prosciutto mixture evenly over the dough. Fold the sides in, in thirds- like folding a piece of paper to go in an envelope. Then fold in the top and bottom in the same way. The dough will look like a bundle. Place back in the bowl, cover and let rise again until doubled. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Let rest a few minutes, then knead a couple of times. Roll the dough out again into the big circle. Do the same folding that you did before- sides folded in thirds, then the top and bottom folded in. This helps to distribute the onion-prosciutto mixture evenly. Place the dough on a baking sheet lightly greased and coated with cornmeal. Shape the dough into a 14-inch loaf. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a pan with hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Combine the egg with the 2 teaspoons of water, mix well and brush lightly over the bread. With a sharp knife make three slashes on the top of the bread. Place in oven and bake 25 minutes. Remove the pan of water and bake another 25 minutes or until bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped lightly. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Makes one very large loaf.
Pepperoni Pizza Bread
If you are still looking for food to serve for your favorite football game, you can make these filled breads in no time at all. They might look difficult, but they are pretty easy to make. They are similar to Stromboli. You can fill them with all sorts of ingredients.
I have made them with Reuben sandwich fillings, spinach with cheese, and have even made a breakfast version with scrambled eggs, cheese and sausage.
The pizza fillings are always popular with my friends and family. You could certainly add other favorite pizza toppings to your fillings. Pictured is a double batch- which made two loaves. The recipe below makes one bread, but feel free to double the recipe.
Here is the recipe for one loaf.
Pepperoni Pizza Bread
3 ¼ c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 package quick-rising yeast
1 c. hot water
1 T. oil
Extra oil for brushing on the dough
1/2 c. marinara sauce
6 oz. mozzarella or provolone cheese
2 oz. sliced pepperoni, about
Set aside 1 cup of the flour. Combine remaining flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in water and oil and gradually stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 8. Brush with oil down center middle of dough. Top with sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Cut one-inch wide strips of dough from filling to edge on both sides. It will sort of look like fringe. Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling at an angle. Carefully lift loaf onto greased baking sheet and place at an angle. Cover with a towel and place sheet on top of a roasting pan half-filled with simmering water for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400-degree for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers. Makes one loaf.
Note: The variations for this bread are almost endless. Some favorite combinations are ham and Swiss with mustard, roast beef and cheddar, chicken, broccoli and cheese, spinach with ricotta or feta and onions, curried veggies. You get the idea. Use your imagination and have fun. Just be careful not to overfill, or the bread will be hard to move, use fillings that aren’t too runny and always use cold fillings.
If you want to use regular yeast, use warm, rather than hot water. After kneading cover dough and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and assemble as in original recipe. Cover with a towel and let rise until dough looks puffy, about 40 minutes. Bake as directed above. These breads can also be frozen.
Cut strips of dough and fold over the filling
Transfer to baking sheet to rise.
Cool a few minutes before slicing
Pepperoni Pizza Bread
Pepperoni Pizza Bread
I had a special request from my brother for this bread. He was going to watch the Super Bowl with some friends and wanted to bring this Pepperoni Pizza Bread. I was happy to make it for him. It may be too late to make this for the Super Bowl but it’s always a good time for pizza, right? I made a double batch of the dough so I would have 2 loaves. Here is the recipe.
Pepperoni Pizza Bread
3 ¼ c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 package quick-rising yeast
1 c. hot water
1 T. oil
Extra oil for brushing on the dough
1/2 c. marinara sauce
6 oz. mozzarella or provolone cheese
2 oz. sliced pepperoni, about
Set aside 1 cup of the flour. Combine remaining flour with the other dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in water and oil and gradually stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle about 16 x 8. Brush with oil down center middle of dough. Top with sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Cut one-inch wide strips of dough from filling to edge on both sides. It will sort of look like fringe. Alternating sides, fold strips up and over the filling at an angle. Carefully lift loaf onto greased baking sheet and place at an angle. Cover with a towel and place sheet on top of a roasting pan half-filled with simmering water for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 400-degree for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing. Serve warm and refrigerate leftovers. Makes one loaf.
Fold dough over fillings
Note: The variations for this bread are almost endless. Some favorite combinations are ham and Swiss with mustard, roast beef and cheddar, chicken, broccoli and cheese, spinach with ricotta or feta and onions, curried veggies . You get the idea. Use your imagination and have fun. Just be careful not to overfill, or the bread will be hard to move, use fillings that aren’t too runny and always use cold fillings.
If you want to use regular yeast use warm, rather than hot water. After kneading cover dough and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and assemble as in original recipe. Cover with a towel and let rise until dough looks puffy, about 40 minutes. Bake as directed above. These breads can also be frozen.
