In July I gave birth to the most adorable little boy that has ever existed (not that I am biased or anything), which meant the 9 months prior to that I was pregnant, and all that comes with it: food aversions, cravings, sicknesses and a lot of other pregnancy symptoms that people don't tell you about. Long story short, pesto was once one of my favorite condiments, and then it went bad in our fridge and made me sick and I didn't look at it again until I was at Costco last month and saw a big jar of their Basil Pesto. I bought it and I have an excuse to put it in everything! Thus, this pull apart bread was born.
If you have been following food trends, you will know that pull apart bread (monkey bread) has made a huge comeback and there is a pull apart bread for just about everything. I saw one on the internet once that used biscuit dough to make a pizza pull apart bread and thought it looked divine and I wanted to try and Claire-ify it (pun intended). Since my husband and I love a good veggie pesto pizza I tried a few different versions of this pizza style pull apart bread and this came out to the winner, and at the perfect time of year. This will make a great addition to any holiday party table, or a very welcome change from the sugar coma inducing gifts that seem to show up on doorsteps everywhere.
My sister describes this as "a delicious Olive Garden bread stick smothered in pesto and topped with a little cheese". So, you could use it as a fun soup dipper (like a bread stick) or paired with a nice Tuscan style chicken or fish. We generally do this as a fun Friday movie night dinner.
You will need to start out with enough pizza dough for 2 pizza crusts. I have a whole wheat pizza dough that we always use (stay tuned for the post coming soon), a canned pizza crust will also work (you will need two), your favorite homemade pizza crust recipe (my sister Layne likes to use Smitten Kitchen's pizza crust, which is really similar to the one that I use), or buy some freshly made pizza dough from the grocery store! They are usually near the deli. Most homemade crusts will usually make enough for 2 pizzas, but make sure to check. If you are using the Smitten Kitchen crust make sure to triple it since the recipe makes 1 super thin crust pizza.
In addition to your pizza dough, you will need a 1/2 cup of basil pesto (homemade or store bought), 2 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic salt, Italian seasoning or just oregano will do, 1/2 -1 cup Parmesan cheese and two handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped.
If you want to lighten this up a bit, use homemade pesto and really control the oil and cheese going into your pesto (or add peas to the pesto for thickness rather than all oil and cheese), add in an extra handful or two of torn up spinach, and reduce the cheese to 1 cup mozzarella, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1/2 cup fresh grated Parm (fresh grated will give it better flavor and you wont miss the extra cheese).
First we need to prep the dough. If you made your own dough, separate it into two rolls. If you bought it, then try and form each dough into two "logs". When its in this log shape it's much easier to cut and work with.
Now you will want to flour your cutting board a little bit to prevent sticking. Using a serrated knife (with the jagged edge) cut your roll into 1" thick circles. It should look like this:
With each of the 1" circle, cut it into 4-6 pieces, and roll each piece into a little ball. This will help prevent each piece sticking too much to the others.
Spray a bundt pan or a 9x13 pan and add in your dough mixture. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until golden and bubbly on top. I always pull a little piece off the top to make sure that the dough is cooked all the way through. Cut into 8 pieces or so, and serve while warm. It's great with a little bowl of marinara sauce on the side to dip in!
Spinach Pesto Pull-Apart Bread
Pizza dough for 2 crusts
2 cups loosely packed spinach (or 2 handfuls), roughly chopped
1/4- 1/2 cup basil pesto (to taste)
2 1/2 cups freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons of oregano (or Italian seasoning if you don't have just oregano)
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare your pizza dough, enough for two pizza crusts. Homemade is best, but you can use store made, or canned Pillsbury pizza dough (you would need two of these). Form pizza dough into two circular logs. Cut each log into 1" pieces. Cut each of the 1" pieces into 4-5 pieces and roll into a ball (this prevents too much sticking). Put all the pieces into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. And give it a good mix so each piece has olive oil on it. The pieces will stick together, but it's okay. Try and separate as you mix. Once the dough is coated, add the rest of your ingredients: 2 teaspoons oregano/Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2 handfuls of spinach and 1/2 cup pesto. Give it a good mix, again, you will need to pull pieces apart as you mix.
4. Spray a 9x13 baking dish or a bundt pan with non-stick spray and pour your mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes.
**If you want to add a little kick, try adding 1/2-1 tsp of red pepper flakes to your dough (if you are making your own) when you mix the dry ingredients. If you aren't making your dough, add the red pepper flakes with the other spices.
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