Homemade Sausage Stuffed Bread

The dough will take 4-7 hours to ferment depending on the ambient temperature. For convenience, you can mix it ahead, let it almost double at room temperature, then refrigerate overnight or longer until you're ready to use it.

Extensive photo galleries in the accompanying post provide visuals of these steps.

Dough

Combine the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix. Transfer to a clean work surface and knead by hand for 1-2 minutes. Add flour if needed to get a kneadable dough.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl or straight-walled container, mark the level and let rise until close to double in size.

Once fermented, the dough can be refrigerated or you can begin the assembly process outlined below.

Homemade Sausage

Combine the ground meat or diced extra-firm tofu with the sausage seasoning ingredients and mix thoroughly. Freeze half in an airtight container, or refrigerate it and use for breakfast etc within 3-4 days.

Filling

Dice the onion, peppers, and sweet potato.

In a saute pan at least 10-inches in diameter, heat the oil and add the onion, sweet potato, and peppers. Cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly and adding a small splash of water only if needed to prevent sticking.

Mix in the herbs and spices, and saute a bit longer These dry ingredients are added at this point so they don't absorb the oil and the vegetables can cook without needing the aforementioned splash of water.

When you can poke through a piece of potato with a fork, push the vegetable mixture to one side of the pan, add the meat and break it into smaller pieces with the edge of your spatula while mixing everything together. Cook the meat through.

Add the dried cranberries and remove the pan from the heat. The filling doesn't need to fully cool before moving on to the next step.

Woven and Rolled Bread Assembly and Baking

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Place the fermented dough on a lightly floured work surface and pre-shape it into a ball.

Let the dough rest about 10 minutes while you prep the egg wash and cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit a half sheet pan.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough ball into a long oval, approx 10" x 16" and 1/8-1/4" thick.

Flour the top of the dough, flip it over onto the parchment paper and flour the new top of the dough. This is key to being able to cut and maneuver the dough strips for weaving.

Place the filling in a line down the center of the dough, leaving a little less than 1/3 the dough empty on both sides.

For the rolled dough, simply fold the sides over the filling. Aim to have the seam at least a half-inch from the edge of the tube so when you flip the dough over, the weight of the tube is on the seam. Pinch the ends upward and closed. Make cuts in the top of the dough so steam escapes during baking.

For the woven dough, use a pair of scissors or a sharp knife to cut strips on both sides of the filling. You can choose how wide you want the strips to be, but make sure you have the same number on both sides. Fold the pieces of the dough inward at a 45-degree angle, alternating left and right sides. Pinch the ends of the tube upward and seal the dough.

Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame or nigella seeds if desired.

Transfer to the baking sheet and place in the oven.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate the pan if needed.

Empanada Assembly

Preheat your oven to 400°F.

Place the fermented dough on a lightly floured work surface and pre-shape it into a ball.

Let the dough rest about 10 minutes while you prep the egg wash and cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit a half sheet pan.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. The shape can be amorphous.

Use an English muffin ring (3.75" diameter) or small bowl (up to 5" diameter) to cut circles in the dough. Reassemble the scraps into a ball and cover it while you fill and crimp a baking sheet's worth of empanadas.

Lay a dough circle in the palm of one hand and put a spoonful of filling into the middle of the circle. Resist the temptation to overstuff. Fold the dough in half around the filling and lay it on the baking sheet.

Crimp the edges of the empanada with a fork, or use your two index fingers to fold the dough edges up and inward. Here is a video showing one way to do this.

When the first round of empanadas is shaped, brush them with egg wash (add seeds if you want) and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

While the first sheet is baking, roll out the dough-scrap ball, cut more circles, and assemble more empanadas. Another option is to make a small woven bread with the dough-scrap ball. Repeat the egg wash and baking.

You can put a second baking sheet in the oven while the first is still cooking. Just make sure to rotate and shift them as needed for even browning.

Let the empanadas cool about 10 minutes before eating.

Storage and Reheating

These breads can be stored in the refrigerator wrapped or placed in an airtight container for several days. They can also be wrapped and frozen for up to about three months.

Refrigerated breads can be reheated in the oven at 350°F for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size.

Frozen breads can be defrosted in the refrigerator the night before and reheated as indicated above.

To reheat from frozen, bake for longer at the lower temp of 325°F, and cover if the breads begin to brown before warming all the way through. A probe thermometer is helpful for checking the internal temp of the bread.