Pane Bianco

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Pane Bianco - Stuffed Italian Bread

Pane Bianco is an exciting stuffed Italian Bread that, despite it's gorgeous presentation is very easy to make.

Prep Time1

Cook Time35

Rising4

Total Time5 35

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian bread, Stuffed Bread

Servings: servings

Calories: 291kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Ingredients

Pesto

1 ¼ ounces basil leaves (35 grams)
2 medium garlic cloves
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or walnuts
½ cup parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Zippy Garlic Oil

½ cup olive oil
¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 large garlic cloves

½ cup lukewarm milk
⅓ cup lukewarm water
1 large egg
3 tablespoons zippy garlic oil
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups bread flour (360 grams)
2 teaspoons instant yeast

Filling

2 tablespoons zippy olive oil
⅓ cup pesto
¾ cup chopped calamata olives
1 cup grated or finely shredded provolone cheese

Instructions

Pesto

Pull the leaves off the stems. There should be about 4 cups loosely packed.
Place all but the oil in the bowl of the processor and process to finely cut up.
This makes approximately ¾ cup. Store in the refrigerator until needed or drop by tablespoons and freeze for longer storage.
When ready to use, thin out with the zippy garlic oil to a spreading consistency. Do not make it too liquid.

Zippy Garlic Oil

To remove the skins from the garlic easily, smash the cloves with the flat side of a knife. The skins will pop off. Cut each clove in about 3 pieces.
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over low to a bare simmer. Simmer until the cloves turn brown but do not burn them.
Remove from the heat and let cool until lukewarm. Strain the solids out of the oil. Pour the oil into a container, cool to room temperature then store in the fridge until needed. It appear solid but will liquify if brought out 30 minutes before using.

Pane Bianco Bread

Add the milk, water, egg, zippy olive oil., salt and yeast in the bowl of a mixer fitted wtih a dough hook if available. Whisk to combine. Add the flour. Beat on low to combine. Raise the speed as suggested by your mixer and continue beating for 3 minutes.
Take a small piece of dough and stretch it between your hands. If it becomes transparent without breaking, the gluten has been developed enough. If not, return it to the bowl and beat for another minute or so. The bowl should be clean when finished mixing.
Remove from the mixer and knead several times to form a smooth ball. Place in a container sprayed with a non-stick baking release. Cover directly with plastic wrap, place the top on the container or cover with a towel. Mark the time and allow to double in bulk.
It can be used immediately but I suggest storing it in the refrigerator for 3 days to allow it to develop more flavor and make it easier to roll out. In any case, deflate the dough.
Roll the dough into a 22" x 8" rectangle on a lightly floured board.
Spread the pesto paste over the dough to within 1" of the borders. Spread the olives evenly over the pesto and finish with the provolone cheese.
Starting on the long side, Roll the dough up tightly. Pinch the seam together to seal it. Turn the dough over so the smooth side is up.
Place the roll on a piece of parchment paper the size of your baking pan. With a pair of scissors, make a 1" deep cut to within 1" of each end.
Keeping the exposed cut on top, make an S shape by bending the top down to the middle of the right side of the dough. Tuck the end underneath.
Bring the bottom of the dough up along the left side of the dough, tucking the end underneath. Carefully transfer the paper to your baking pan.
Cover and let rise for about 1 hour if the dough was room temperature when you started or up to 2 hours or more if the dough was cold from the refrigerator. In any case, it should be doubled and puffy.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the Pane Bianco with the zippy garlic oil. Bake for 35 to 40minutes until deeply golden brown.
Cool on a rack and serve warm or room temperature.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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Refrigerating the dough up to 3 days adds flavor and makes it much easier to roll out and shape.

The pesto can be purchased. Just make sure it isn't too loose. If it is, add extra cheese to tighten it up. If making it, it can be made weeks ahead and stored in the refrigerator or dropped by tablespoons onto waxed paper and frozen for longer storage.

Walnuts can be substituted for the pine nuts if desire. They should be toasted, as are the pine nuts to bring out their flavor. Toast them in a 350°F oven for 87 to 10 minutes until fragrant and a bit darker in color.

All-purpose flour can be substituted for the bread flour but bread flour will produce a better result.

I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil but other grades can be substituted. If olive oil isn't your thing, sub canola oil.

Other cheese can be substituted for the provolone.

The zippy garlic oil can be used wherever olive oil is used in a recipe to impart more flavor. When making the oil, leave the garlic in large pieces and cook on low heat to extract as much flavor as possible out of the garlic. Just be sure not to burn it. Strain the solids out and refrigerate the oil.

The filling can be changed to whatever you like as long as it isn't wet. For instance, if you want to use tomatoes use dried tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes can exude a lot of unwanted liquid.

There will be leftover pesto. It can be stored in the refrigerated if using in the next few weeks. For longer storage, drop by tablespoons onto waxed paper and freeze. Place in a freezer proof container or bag and use within a couple of months. It's great to flavor butter, pasta sauces and salads or an Italian cheese sandwich. Make like a regular toasted cheese sandwich but spread pesto on a slice of bread and top with provolone cheese. Yum!

Be sure to check out the SPECIAL NOTE regarding the zippy garlic oil.

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