There’s nothing quite as lovely as homemade bread, however, I don’t think I have made any homemade bread since I was about 10! I’ve been meaning to make some for a while now, but i’ve been trying to come up with a cracking recipe to incorporate it into.  And lo, Pizza Stuffed Bread was born!

You’ve probably seen similar recipes for pull apart bread out there, and this is my take on it. Classic pizza toppings baked into soft white bread – honestly, what’s not to like? Super indulgent and fun to make with garlic butter, tomato sauce and lots and lots of cheese!

If you are short on time, you can obviously use a store bought loaf, but make your own for that extra bit of something special.  Great British Bake Off fever has hit in our house, so I used a Paul Hollywood recipe that worked really well, you can find it here. It has a nice crust on it and a light texture.

For the tomato sauce

• 6 ripe tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• a good pinch of black pepper
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp dried basil

For the garlic butter

• 125g salted butter
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 3 tbsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)

For the filling of the stuffed bread

• 200g grated strong cheddar cheese
• 10 peperoni slices
• 5 salami slices
• 1 ball mozzarella
• 15g sundries tomatoes

Prep the bread first.  Cut lines into the bread, two thirds of the way down and every 1cm. Turn the bread and cut across these lines to form a criss cross.  This can be a bit tricky, so do take your time.

For the tomatoes sauce, heat a glut of oil into a medium sized saucepan. Chop the tomatoes into quarters and add these in, along with the garlic, lemon juice and black pepper. Cook over a medium heat for 10 mins stirring occasionally, then add the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. Cook for about 30mins until tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has reduced by two thirds.  Push through a fine sieve and leave to one side.

Pre-heat the oven to 180º.

Put a saucepan on a low heat and add in the ingredients for the garlic butter.  Melt everything together, then pour into a jug.

Gently pour the garlic butter up and down the cuts in the bread, try to get an even coverage.  Do the same with the tomato sauce.  Stuff the grated cheese into the cuts, being careful not to tear the bread.  Add in the meats, pieces of mozzarella and strips of sundries tomatoes.

Wrap the bread in foil and put in the oven for 20-30mins until the cheese has all melted. Serve to the table warm and tuck into some perfect stuffed bread.