Braided Dinner Bread

Original recipe from Mel's Kitchen.

Pictured: braided dinner bread filled with broccoli, ham, and cheese.

Ingredients:

• recipe for one loaf of your favorite bread
• 2-3 c filling of choice (suggestions below)
• cheese to taste
• sauce to taste 
• butter or olive oil to taste

Directions:

1. Make dough following bread instructions. Prepare fillings by sauteing vegetables and/or meat of choice.
2. Grease a cookie sheet. After the dough rises, instead of shaping it into a loaf, roll it out to cover the cookie sheet. Working down only the middle third of dough, spread sauce of choice. Sprinkle with filling and cheese. Fold dough up on either end to prevent filling spilling out.
3. Use a butter knife to cut across each side of remaining dough, from the filling to the edge, in 1-inch strips. Starting on one side, stretch dough strip across filling, alternating with a strip from the other side to give a braided look. Moosh the ends together to hold the innards. :)
4. Preheat oven to 400. Spread braided dough generously with butter, or brush with olive oil. Let rise until oven is ready, then bake 20-25 min. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

Filling suggestions:

• ham and cheese: chop and saute 1 onion, 1 c broccoli, 1 c ham--use cheddar cheese and mayo

• BBQ chicken: chop and saute 1 c chicken, 1/2 c onion, 1/2 c peppers, 1/2 c mushrooms--use mozzarella and BBQ sauce

• veggie lover: chop and saute 3 c favorite veggies--use favorite cheese and pesto

• pizza: chop and saute mushrooms, onions, peppers, and pepperoni--use mozzarella and tomato pesto
• chicken alfredo: fill with one recipe chicken alfredo sauce