Pane Bianco

I couldn't help but be impressed with the shape and layers on this bread the first time I saw it on King Arthur Flour's blog, Baking Banter.  The one on the bottom is mine, filled with sundried tomatoes, basil, and cheese.  The one on the top is better -- I'm annoyed to admit -- and made by Joe.  It's got the same ingredients in different proportions, plus ham and pepperoni.  They're like our pizzas -- I'll scoff when he goes for the meat lover's variety, and I'll choose tomato and basil or eggplant and caramelized onion.  I do love meat, just not a whole barnyard of it.  But this time it just made the bread so moist and flavorful.  Although this bread may look complicated, it's actually a cinch to pull off.  Honest!

Bottom row: The risen dough; after spreading the filling, the dough is rolled up and then snipped to reveal the layers; my loaf is shaped into a figure-8.  Top row: The dough was rolled out and spread with cheeses, sundried tomatoes, and basil; the baked loaf had layers of the filling, pepperoni and ham, and bread.   

I'm not a fan of garlic powder, so we spread half a head of mashed roasted garlic on each bread.  And in addition to the cheese blend, we added chunks of fresh mozzarella.