Stuffed Sandwich

Some people have asked me how to make the stuffed sandwiches that I mention from time to time. So here are picture directions for making one! This recipe is not an original. I got it from the country baker. Though my baking utensils are not essential to making this recipe, I purchased those from the country baker also, as well as my Bosch mixer which kneads the dough for me. Start with a chunk of bread dough, about the size you would use to bake a loaf of bread. This should be yeast bread dough before any rising has occurred. Roll it out to about 1/3" thickness in the shape of a rectangle. Because you are rolling it so thin, it doesn't need to rise before baking. You should bake immediately after making. The dots you see on my bread dough are flax seeds, which are not essential to this recipe but just something I like to add to my bread. Mentally divide this rectangle into thirds. The middle third will hold the food, and the outer two thirds (one third on each side) will become the faux braid. Using a knife, or this dough cutter scraper, cut slits about one inch apart and slightly on a diagonal all the way down both sides of your dough rectangle.

Then spread some type of pesto or mustard or whatever type of sauce you'd like to experiment with down the middle third. It's been fun for us to experiment with different spreads!

Now you are ready to layer your meat and cheese. I would normally layer the meat pretty thick, but this time I had frozen an amount that I thought would be sufficient and it turned out to be pretty slim. Oh well. Good thing the bread is good all by itself!!

I have also put precooked veggies such as peppers and onions inside, and my husband and I like this flavor but our children don't.

Once you have all the "stuffing" layered down the middle third, take the outer strips and begin laying them across the middle, crossing the ends over each other to look like a braid. Crimp each end closed so the stuffing doesn't come out while baking!

When you are finished, you'll have something that looks like this:


Now comes the tricky part. Transferring this yummy looking sandwich to a baking sheet. I have a large bread dough spatula (in picture) that I purchased from the country baker, however it no longer appears on their website. Before purchasing this handy tool, which also works well for homemade pizza by the way!, I used two regular sized spatulas, the kind you use to remove cookies from a tray.


Once the stuffed sandwich has been transferred to your baking sheet, whisk one raw egg with a bit of water and then brush this over your sandwich.

Sprinkle with poppy seeds.....

.....bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and enjoy!