This delicious Cheesy Garlic and Herb Pane Bianco is incredibly soft bread, the kind of cheesy bread you want to eat with a salad, because you will need to eat many slices of this bread because it’s very addicting. The beautiful shape is actually very simple to achieve and makes a really stunning presentation.
The bread has a delicious fluffy and porous texture which makes it great for eating with soups or sopping up sauce. There is no shortage of ways you will have to eat this bread after you make it. It’s also incredibly delicious with fried eggs in the morning.
What is Pane Bianco Bread?
Pane Bianco is an Italian white bread that is stuffed with cheese and herbs. It is shaped into a figure 8, which makes a beautiful finished loaf. The bread is light and fluffy, and filled with delicious pockets of cheese and herbs.
Savory filling variations:
We use gruyere cheese and rosemary, thyme, sage, and garlic in our Pane Bianco recipe. Other ingredients you could use for this bread are:
- Sun dried tomatoes, basil, and an Italian cheese blend
- Sharp Cheddar, sautéd onions, and chopped bacon
- Pesto and mozzarella cheese
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Cheesy Roasted Garlic and Herb Pane Bianco
EQUIPMENT
- Rolling Pin
- pairing knife
INGREDIENTS
dough
- 3 cups bread flour
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ¼ cup lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten (at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
filling
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ cups shredded Gruyere
- 1 teaspoon each minced thyme, sage, rosemary
- 1 head roasted garlic cloves
INSTRUCTIONS
- For dough: Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together. Once dough comes together (will stick be sticky and chunky), dump onto a clean surface dusted with flour. Knead dough for 5 to 6 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
- Lightly greasy a large glass bowl, add the dough, cover and store in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- To assemble: Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Punch dough down and turn out onto a clean surface, dusted with flour. Flatten and spread dough to a rough 18”x 8” rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
- Brush the surface of the dough with the oil and sprinkle 1 cup cheese evenly over the top followed by the herbs. Dot the garlic cloves over the surface and sprinkle ¼ cup cheese over the top. From the longer side, gently and carefully roll the dough into a log shape and seal the seam shut. Place the loaf seam side down and transfer onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Using a pairing knife, cut down the center of the dough (lengthwise) cutting down until about ½ inch from the bottom (you don’t want to cut through the dough completely).
- Carefully take the ends of the dough and turn them in so that the cut-side is more open and exposed.
- Carefully create an “S” shape in the bread by coiling both ends slightly in the opposite direction from one another.
- Lightly brush the top of the bread with oil and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the surface.
- Loosely cover and allow loaf to double in size, about 30 to 40 minutes. Place loaf into the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. After 25 minutes loosely tent the loaf to prevent the top from getting too dark. Continue to bake the loaf for an additional 15 minutes or until the loaf has risen and turned golden brown.
- Transfer loaf to a cooling rack and allow pane bianco to cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
NOTES
- *Makes 1 Loaf
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Great Recipe, I tried it once and came out very good. I am making it again but could I do the steps 1-9 and then place the S shaped bread in the fridge, overnight? I want to bake it next day when my guests arrive.
I think refrigerating the loaf overnight, for a slow proof, would be just fine!
I made this for Mother’s Day and it turned out to be incredibly tasty. Me and my whole family loved it. (We ate it in one sitting!) Thank you very very much for this beautiful recipe.
Yay!! I love this recipe so much too!!
This looks absolutely delicious! Would it be possible to make the dough the day before, allowing it to rise overnight in the fridge? Also….not sure I could wait an hour for it to cool before diving into it, but that might just be a personal problem!
Lol, totally understandable about the hour long wait :)…and yes, you can have the dough slow rise in the fridge overnight
Hi!
Made this last night, but have a question.
The directions say “From the short side, gently and carefully roll the dough into a log.” Since the dough has been rolled out to 18″ x 8″ this left me with an 8″ log that was too short and fat to coil the ends. Unless I’m just plain reading this wrong, I believe the directions should say “From the LONG side…” Am I crazy?
PS – BTW, other than that, the recipe is delicious!
Yes! You’re absolutely correct! I totally meant from the “long side”! thank you for catching that and I’m glad you still enjoyed the recipe! :)
This is Gorgeous. The bread is really yummy and beautiful to look at.