Italian Loaf Rustica

Italian Loaf Rustica, originally uploaded by n0name28.

Ingredients:

Filling-
-1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-2 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
-8 oz. cuved mozzerlla cheese
-7 oz. jar mild roasted red peppers, drained OR
1 1/4 cups chopped red bell pepper

Bread-
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
-1 Tbsp.sugar
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 pkg. fast acting dry yeast
-2 tsp. margarine, softened
-1 egg, beaten
-2 to 3 tsp. sesame seeds, optional

Directions:

-If sausage comes in casing, remove casing and break it up.

-In large skillet, brown sausage, onion and garlic. If using bell peppers, brown these with the sausage mix. Drain and set aside.

-Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup and level off.

-In large bowl combine 1/2 cup all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal sugar, salt and yeast. Blend well.

-Stir in water and margarine. Mix well.

-Stir in remaining 1 cup all purpose flour to form a stiff batter. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

-Grease a 9 or 10 inch springform pan.

-Stir down dough. Spread about 2/3 of the dough in bottom of pan, going up 2 inches of the sides of the pan.

-Add cheese to the peppers and meat mixture. Spoon mixture over dough.

-Gently pull dough from sides onto meat mixture.

-Drop remaining dough by tablespoonfuls over the filling, OR you can roll it out, like a pie crust, and cover the top. With the back of a buttered spoon, carefully spread the dough to cover entire top. The top will appear rough.

-Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Let rise in warm place (80-85°F) until light, about 20-30 minutes.

-Heat oven to 400°F.

-Brush top of dough with beaten egg and, if using, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

-Bake at 400°F for 25-35 minutes or until bread pulls away from sides of pan and edges are a deep golden brown.

-Cool 5 minutes. Loosen edges with knife, remove sides of the pan.

-To serve, cut into wedges.


I love baking bread and when I first saw this recipe, I knew I just had to try it. I use plain old chubb sausage for this and have made it both by the 'dropping spoonfuls of dough on top' and 'rolling the remaining dough out like a pie crust' methods. Both are equally appealing in looks and tastes. When I serve this I always make a cheesy pizza dipping sauce (it's different everytime depending on what's in my pantry/fridge) and we literally feast! It's delicious, filling and absolutely perfect on a fall or winter evening.

Oldest has helped me make this a few times as he wants to be able to make it once he lives on his own. It's that good!!