Stuffed Cheesy Sourdough Loaf

 photo credit: http://nancycreative.com

Stuffed Cheesy Sourdough Loaf

original recipe: http://nancycreative.com/2012/02/08/cheesy-stuffed-sourdough-loaf/

Ingredients:

• 1 (1 lb. 8 oz.) round sourdough bread loaf (or substitute another type of bread if you don’t like sourdough)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/3 to 1/2 lb. (or about 5 to 8 ounces) thinly sliced roasted chicken, turkey, ham, or salami
• 10 to 12 ounces sliced mozzarella or provolone cheese, or 5 to 6 ounces of each (about 14 slices total)
• 3/4 to 1 cup roasted red peppers from a jar, well-drained (I drained mine on a paper towel; if you don’t drain them, they’ll make the bread soggy)
• Optional: 1/3 to 1/2 cup sliced olives or any of the following–chopped marinated artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, sliced mushrooms

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place your loaf on the sheet.

Slice your round loaf of bread vertically into 3/4″ to 1″ thick slices–but do not slice all the way through to the bottom! (You should end up with about 10 or 11 “slices,” giving you 9 or 10 “slits” to stuff with cheese, meat, and roasted peppers).

In medium bowl, combine olive oil, oregano, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and minced garlic, stirring to mix well. Using a pastry brush, brush both sides of all the bread “slices” generously with this olive oil mixture.

In assembly-line fashion, make 14 “piles” with each slice of cheese, topped with a thin slice of deli meat, then topped with a roasted red pepper slice or two (you could also add or substitute some chopped olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, etc. with or in place of the red pepper).

Bend each cheese slice “pile” as if you were going to fold it in half, and fit down in between your bread slices. Because several of the end slices are narrower, one “pile” is enough to fill them up. The wider middle slices will require two “piles” stuffed in between them. For the other slices, I stuffed one-and-a-half of the cheese “piles” in between them. If this sounds confusing, all you really need to remember is to stuff the bread slices with your piles of cheese and other goodies till your loaf is well-stuffed!

Bake your stuffed loaf on the baking sheet at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, and serve while warm! You can just pull the slices apart as you’re eating it, or cut them with a knife.