Sunday, 19 November 2023

Spinach-Feta Stuffed Bread

Oh my gosh, this is SO delicious. Unless you're my youngest who dislikes spinach and/or feta cheese in which case it tastes "strong" and may not be your favorite. The BEST thing about this spinach-feta stuffed bread is that once cooled and sliced, this freezes perfectly. This has been a great addition to our school and work lunch repertoire! It'll thaw to room temperature by lunchtime. Works great! *As an extra side note: you can fill these with sauce and cheese, like you would a pizza, too to make a sort of calzone-style bread!* Enjoy!

Slice of freshly made Spinach-Feta Stuffed Bread. Yum!

Some made with the spinach and feta filling, and some filled with sauce and cheese, like a pizza.

Sliced and ready to serve! Was a perfect dish to bring along for a group get-together.

Spinach-Feta Stuffed Bread

Preheat oven to 425 - 450 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*Note: you can fill these with sauce and cheese, like you would a pizza, too!* Works great!

Mix together, and set aside:

500 g bag frozen diced spinach, thawed and drained (I squeeze to remove as much water as possible)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

2 - 4 Tbsp grated parmesan

1 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 egg

Note: In order to make 2 trays, each with 2 loaves instead of 1 tray with 3 loaves, I increased the dough amount by 50% (i.e. 4.5 cups flour, 3 tsp xanthan, 1.5 Tbsp rapid yeast, etc.) and made a couple of them more pizza-like in filling. Worked great!

In a large mixer, combine: (It's important to mix dry ingredients first in GF baking to avoid clumps)

3 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

2 tsp xanthan gum (yes, extra is needed)

1 Tbsp rapid-rise yeast

1 Tbsp minced dried onion (optional)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Add, and beat 2-3 minutes, until nice and smooth:

2 1/3 cup milk, room temperature

2 eggs

While the bread is mixing, in a small bowl melt:

1/4 cup salted butter

Put bread dough into a large freezer ziploc. Cut 1/2" - 3/4" corner of the ziploc. Pipe 3 long ovals, each with 3 strips of batter onto a parchment-lined pan. You'll want to aim to use no more than 2/3 of the total dough, so you have enough to pipe on top.

Dough piped onto the pan, ready to smooth and spread with wet ands

Use wet hands over each loaf to flatten/smooth each bottom. I like to leave a bit of a lip to the edges to help the filling inside.

Spread the piped dough out with wet hands (or you can use extra butter and the back of a spoon, but I find it isn't needed - so just use wet hands.

Evenly divide the spinach-cheese filling between the loaves. (Optional: you can fill with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese, add a little of the spinach-feta filling (if desired), and add a bit extra parmesan.)

All spinach-feta on the left, and half spinach-feta and some pizza-style on the right (also increased the dough by 50% so a bit larger final bake overall).

Sprinkled a bit of extra parmesan overtop before piping on the zigzags for these ones.

Pipe zigzags or stripes across the top of each loaf. You want to make sure the filling isn't fully covered, so the filling and dough can breathe while baking.

you can get creative with your piping. Just make sure to have gaps so the filling and dough breathes while baking.

Piped zigzags onto these ones - then some extra zigs and zags on one pan since I'm not the best at guessing how much to pipe. No worries! They all turn out great!

Again, use the back of a spoon to spread the remaining melted butter over the top of the dough. You can use the butter and spoon to help smooth and flatten the loaf tops - and help smooth together edges of bottom and top crust! Drizzle any extra melted butter overtop before baking! Yum! The more you smooth the edges from the top into the bottom, the less it will separate while baking. But it's a very forgiving recipe!

Optional - on top of butter brushed loaves sprinkle:

grated parmesan

crushed red pepper

Sprinkled with a big of extra parmesan and crushed red pepper after brushing with butter.

Bake your loaves at 425 - 450 F for 27 - 30 minutes until a nice brown. Remove from pan (and parchment) and cool on a wire cooling rack. We've eaten this fresh from the oven and let cool to slice for later. Enjoy!