Years ago, a friend of mine shared some of her sausage bread with me. It had two ingredients, and I thought it was great. I decided to tweak it and stuff it with one of my favorite dishes, and Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Bread was born. I blanched the broccoli rabe before mixing it with the sausage, so the bitter flavor is gone but is still incredibly flavorful. I also added a layer of provolone cheese when rolling the bread and topped it with a sprinkle of grated parmesan, resulting in scrumptious stuffed bread. This bread is perfect as a side with any meal and is also a great snack. Serve it with a bowl of marinara sauce for dipping, too.
Ingredients for Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Bread:
*1 premade pizza dough, not from a can, room temperature
1 pound of Italian sausage, sweet, hot, or a mixture
1 pound broccoli rabe, blanched until tender and cut into 1 " pieces
4 slices provolone cheese
2-3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
1 egg+ 2 tablespoons of water, beaten
*My pizza dough was relatively large, weighing in at 1.6 pounds. One pound of dough will be great, and the finished product will have a little less bread.
Time-Saving Tips: Cook the broccoli rabe up to a day in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.
Let's see what we need.
We're ready to cook.
Remove the sausage from the casings and place in a non-stick pan. Saute until no longer pink while breaking the pieces up with a wooden spoon. Once cooked, add the broccoli rabe and combine well; set aside to completely cool.
Place the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap and bring to room temperature. I usually take my dough out of the refrigerator in the morning to use late in the afternoon. When the dough is at room temperature, it is easy to shape. With your fingertips start to flatten the dough working from the inside out. Another option is to lift the dough, and with your hand in a slightly closed position, rotate the dough. Finally, return the dough to the floured surface and roll it out into a rectangular shape.
Place the cheese slices in a row slightly off-center. Add the sausage mixture and spread out, leaving about an inch and a half border. Brush the edge with the egg mixture and roll the dough, jelly-roll style.
Brush the two ends with egg wash and tuck under the loaf on both ends; transfer to a parchment-lined sheet pan. Now coat the log withall over more egg wash and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until golden.
It's ready! Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Bread is delicious, and everyone loves it. It's ideal as a snack when watching the games, to serve with cocktails, or as part of a meal. Feel free to serve it with a little tomato sauce on the side for dipping.
Enjoy!
Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Bread:
*1 premade pizza dough, not from a can, room temperature
1 pound of Italian sausage, sweet, hot, or a mixture
1 pound broccoli rabe, blanched until tender and cut into 1 " pieces
4 slices provolone cheese
2-3 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
1 egg+ 2 tablespoons of water, beaten
Remove the sausage from the casings and place in a non-stick pan. Saute until no longer pink while breaking the pieces up with a wooden spoon. Once cooked, add the broccoli rabe and combine well; set aside to completely cool.
Place the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap and bring to room temperature. I usually take my dough out of the refrigerator in the morning to use late in the afternoon. When the dough is at room temperature, it is easy to shape. With your fingertips start to flatten the dough working from the inside out. Another option is to lift the dough, and with your hand in a slightly closed position, rotate the dough. Finally, return the dough to the floured surface and roll it out into a rectangular shape.
Place the cheese slices in a row slightly off-center. Add the sausage mixture and spread out, leaving about an inch and a half border. Brush the edge with the egg mixture and roll the dough, jelly-roll style.
Brush the two ends with egg wash and tuck under the loaf on both ends; transfer to a parchment-lined sheet pan. Now coat the log withall over more egg wash and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until golden.
*My pizza dough was relatively large, weighing in at 1.6 pounds. One pound of dough will be great, and the finished product will have a little less bread.
Time-Saving Tips: Cook the broccoli rabe up to a day in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.