Pane Bianco

Pane Bianco is Italian for white bread. Except that this bread is all dressed to kill. I came across a picture of the Pane Bianco on Pinterest and I could not take my eyes off it. It is a stylized bread filled with sundried tomatoes, cheese, garlic, basil. Even the combination sounded good before I could taste it.
The loaf itself is made using a basic white bread recipe. It is only when you stuff, roll, shape and scour it that the plain Jane turns into a Cinderella. I finished off about half of the bread as soon as it came out of the oven. You can also have it with salads or soup. My go-to recipe for the Pane Banco is form the King Arthur Flour website. They have many such wonderful recipes. Go check them out. I have made certain changes in the recipe. First of all I halved it to make a medium sized bread that is sufficient for two people. Also I cut out the egg as I wanted an eggless recipe. Then I added some bread improver. I know it is not advisable to use bread improvers regularly. I had bought a large packet a while back and I wanted to try it out. The dough was so super smooth, soft, and pliable. Loved it!!
So go ahead and try out the Pane Bianco


Ingredients

For the dough
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp instant yeast
½ tsp salt
¼ cup lukewarm milk
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp bread improver (optional)

For the filling
¼ cup grated cheese ( I have used Cheddar)
Handful of sundried tomatoes
5 garlic, crushed
2 tbsp chopped basil ( I have used coriander)

To make the dough combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer and run for about 5 minutes till it becomes smooth and shiny. If you are not using a stand mixer then mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Once they come together then turn it onto a working surface and knead well. Do a window pane test to check if the gluten has been activated. Take a small ball of dough and stretch it gently. If it stretches to form a thin transparent membrane without tearing then you are done. Place the dough in a oiled bowl and cover with a cling film. Let it rest for about 3-4 hours till it doubles up. Pat the dough down and rest it on the kitchen counter uncovered for 10 minutes.
Now roll out the dough into large rectangle. I rolled it out to approximately 10x12 inches. Spread the filling ingredients on the rolled out dough leaving edges on all four sides.

Now gently roll up the dough into a cylinder.

Prepare a baking tray. Line it with parchment and apply butter on it otherwise the dough will stick to the paper.
Place the cylinder on the baking tray. Using a sharp knife make a long slit down the cylinder. Be careful to leave about an inch untouched on both ends. Now shape it into a S shape. Tuck in the ends under the loaf to get the shape. Cover the bread and keep it to rise for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Bake for 35-40 minutes.