Braided Spaghetti Bread

I know it may be too hot to use your oven but, I made this awhile back and I promised to post it.  If you get a cool night though, you will want to make this it was so good!  It was all pretty easy, except working with the elasticity of bread dough was not my favorite part, it was worth it in the end.

Another dish that the hubs highly approved of.  Craziness!  I have a link that I adapted this recipe from at the bottom of the page.  She has much more detailed instructions with pictures to follow if you’d like to check it out.  I’m the lazy blogger, I just tell you most of it and direct you somewhere else…ha!  Really though, my pool is calling my name and I can’t just leave it all lonely out there 😉

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 lb. loaf of  frozen bread dough, thawed for 3-4 hours at room temp.
6 oz. cooked spaghetti
1/2  lb. Italian sausage, cooked
1 1/4 c. spaghetti sauce
8 oz. mozzarella, cut into small cubes
1 egg white
Parmesan cheese
parsley flakes
garlic powder
butter

Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface where you can roll the dough out.  I used a large cutting board.  Roll out dough to a 12″ x 16″ rectangle.

Yes, that is my rectangle, quit laughing! Ha!  Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 minutes.  In the meantime cook your sausage in a skillet until no longer pink; drain if necessary.  Cook your spaghetti according to package directions and drain; let cool slightly.  In a large bowl, combine the spaghetti, sausage and spaghetti sauce.  Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unwrap the dough.  Scoop the spaghetti mixture into the center of the rolled out dough (lengthwise).  About a 4 inch wide strip.  Leaving about an inch at each end.  Top spaghetti with cheese cubes (forgot the cheese pictures).

Now on the sides (lengthwise) of the spaghetti you will cuts 1 1/2 inch strips of dough on each side of the spaghetti.  (I forgot a picture here (again), the link below shows exactly what I mean).  Coming to about 1/2 inch from the spaghetti in the center.

Begin braid by pulling 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.

Spray a cooking sheet with Pam or any cooking spray.  Lift braid with both hands (or two large spatulas) and place on sprayed cooking sheet.  Brush the loaf with egg white and sprinkle with parsley and a generous amount of garlic powder.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, top will be getting golden brown at this point. Place a loose piece of tin foil over loaf and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven,  brush some butter over the loaf and top with Parmesan cheese.  Put back in oven (uncovered) for an additional 3-5 minutes. Altogether my cooking time was 35 minutes.  It just depends on your oven.

Remove loaf and set on cutting board; cool slightly, about 10 minutes.  Slice to serve.

Recipe adapted from here.  I would say this would serve about 4 people nicely, especially if you had a large side salad to go with it.

Enjoy!  I know we really did.  Have a great day!