Like this:

This bread made me very happy. It came out of the oven looking, smelling and tasting amazing, and was easy to make. The loaf did not last very long at our house, but was still fresh and moist two days post-baking. About 20 seconds in the microwave bring is back to its freshly baked taste.

Ham & Cheese Bread

recipe from TiggyBee over at Food52

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon active dry or rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup warm water

3 ounces proscuitto, cubed

4 ounces gouda cheese, cubed

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast and salt. Slowly add the warm water, and stir until you get a rough looking dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. I let mine sit out on the table in the kitchen overnight, and then put it in the fridge while I was at work.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge about an hour before you want to bake. Chop up the proscuitto and cheese into cubes. The original recipe called for smoked provolone. I couldn’t find it at the store, per usual, so ended up going with Gouda cheese. It worked out perfectly.

Mix the ham & cheese into the dough with your hands. Once the dough is mostly mixed, dump it out onto a floured surface and finish mixing.

Place the dough in a large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let sit until it doubles in size. While the dough doubles, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, while a dutch oven is in there.

After the dough has doubled in size, carefully transfer it to the pre-heated dutch oven, and bake covered for 30 minutes.

Uncover, and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Your apartment/house will smell amazing!!

Delicious! If I ever start my own bread shop, this loaf (or something similar to it) will definitely have to be on the menu.

Here’s a picture of me and Izzy enjoying the (very) brief season when you can actually find some green in Texas.

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