Spaghetti Bread

Happy father's day, everyone. While I don't have children of my own, I thought I'd share a recipe today that kids and parents alike are sure to enjoy - it's called spaghetti bread, and if you think that picture is blowing your mind, just wait till you taste it! It's a unique and interesting concoction that can be enjoyed on its own as the main course, or as a side dish to something like steak or meatballs. It's a relatively tricky recipe, but well worth the effort, I assure you! You'll never look at spaghetti or garlic bread the same way again.

Recipe Adapted from Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Blog


Difficulty: Relatively Difficult
Active Prep Time: About 1 hour
Total Prep Time: About 3 hours
Special Equipment: Stand Mixer


Dough Ingredients:

• 1 cup Warm Water
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 1 envelope Active Dry Yeast (2 1/4 Teaspoons)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Bread Flour
• Olive Oil, For Greasing Surfaces

Filling Ingredients:

• 6 - 8 oz spaghetti, cooked
• 1½ cups thick spaghetti sauce
• About 8 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed or crumbled
• 1 egg white
• Parmesan cheese
• Parsley flakes
• Garlic Powder

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir water, honey and yeast together. Let yeast proof 5 minutes. 

2. Once you know yeast is active, stir in salt and the flour in 1/4 cup increments. If you are using a stand mixer, be sure to not increase your speed higher than a 2 or ‘stir’. 

3. Once dough starts pulling away from the sides and the bowl seems clean, set a timer for 5 minutes and walk away. Let the machine knead the dough. After 5 minutes, dough should be smooth and tacky but when touched shouldn’t leave any dough on your fingers.

4. Grease the bowl and the dough with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

5. Once the dough has risen, spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray (or use parchment paper).

6. Using a rolling pin, roll loaf into a 12x16-inch rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

7. Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and let cool slightly.

8. Remove wrap from dough. Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-5 inch strip down the center of dough. Tip with sauce and cheese. (I used braided string cheese marinated with olive oil and herbs.)

9. Make cuts 1½ inches apart on long sides of dough to within ½-inch of filling (picture for reference).

10. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid (another picture for reference)

11. Lift braid with both hands and place on large sprayed baking sheet (or carefully slide parchment paper to baking sheet). Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley, and garlic powder.


12. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve. It should look like this when it's done. Just beautiful!

Additional Notes:
I used a meatless Arrabbiata sauce, but any pasta sauce will do.