Christmas Dinner

We had a quiet Christmas this year... we stayed home.  The entire family has colds and we are a sight (and a sound) to behold.  This November, my mother celebrated her 11th anniversary with her transplanted kidney and liver.  We still try to do all we can to keep our germs to ourselves and protect her as much as we can.  Although we missed our extended family, it was nice to tuck in rather than make the 3 1/2 hour drive with two little ones and a dog.

We also got to do a non-traditional Christmas dinner.  We chose to have homemade lasagne (which turned out better than it ever has), strawberry salad and Italian pull-apart bread.  We enjoyed a divine chocolate cream pie for dessert.

I saw a recipe for Italian pull-apart bread on Pinterest a few weeks ago.  It looked pretty good but I thought, "How easy! I don't need to pin that!"  Well, it seems I did because I failed to buy all of the ingredients and we didn't have any parm, romano or asiago on the premisis.  Rather than skip it, we improvised and I am glad we did.  This is our version of Italian pull-apart bread... and it is pretty incredible.

Italian Pull-Apart Bread

1 loaf frozen bread (like Bridgeford)
1 Tbsp Italian herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary) - fresh, chopped is best so double if using fresh herbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder (could use fresh, minced or crushed)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sea salt
pepper to taste
Olive Oil

Remove bread from freezer and allow to thaw in refrigerator overnight.  Coat a bowl with olive oil and place bowl inside and cover with a piece of plastic wrap.  Place in a warm spot and let the bread rise until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use a pair of kitchen shears and cut dough in small chunks, about the size of a small meatball.  Mix herbs, salt and pepper into melted butter and dredge the small bits of dough into the butter before placing evenly into a bundt pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Drizzle dough with remaining butter mixture.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise a bit longer.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the top is golden.  Remove from oven and turn out onto a large plate.  Serve immediately and be prepared for the little rolls to disappear quickly!