This week I was sorting through old pictures on my computer (an endless job!), and I came across pictures of a trip that my husband and I took to New York about a year ago. We decided to go on a food tour through Little Italy, and we visited several amazing establishments that had been part of this iconic New York neighborhood over a century. We had amazing pizza at Lombardi’s, fresh mozzarella at Aleva Dairy, and stuffed Italian meat and cheese bread at Parisi Bakery.
The Italian stuffed bread was warm and crusty and then unexpectedly filled with flavorful salami and tangy Parmesan cheese. It was memorably delicious, and I came home determined to recreated it.
Well, I’m happy to report that the recreation was a success and really easy. I started with this dough recipe, but I’m sure you could use any yeasty bread recipe that you love. I rolled it out, spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of pesto, and then sprinkled on Parmesan cheese and spicy Italian salami.
I slashed the top, and baked at 450 for about 40 minutes. As the kitchen filled with the aromas of basil, cheese, garlic, and baking bread, it was hard to wait for the bread to be done baking.
Soon, my husband came home and I said, “Hey, want to try a slice of a new bread recipe?” He took a bite, and said, “It’s the bread from Little Italy!” Success!
I love travelling and then bringing the tastes that we experienced back into our home. Do you?
- 1 cantaloupe size ball of our artisan bread dough (https://www.theginghamapron.com/quick-and-easy-artisan-bread-bucket-bread/)
- 1½ T pesto
- 8 slices of salami, chopped
- ½ C Parmesan cheese
- Grease a cooking sheet with olive oil or vegetable oil.
- Flour a clean counter top and and roll the dough out into a 12 inch diameter circle
- Spread the pesto onto the dough.
- Sprinkle the salami and cheese on top of the pesto.
- Roll into a loaf and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Place three shallow slashes on the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
- Let the dough rise for 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Bake 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and you hear a hollow sound when you thump the middle of the loaf.
Wouldn’t this bread be great with this Italian chicken?
Or how about this Italian Soup?
