Pizza Bread

Mix together active dry yeast, 5 gram sugar, and lukewarm milk. Set aside to bloom, or until foamy and frothy, about 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well, then add in egg yolks, butter, and yeast solution. Knead until smooth and soft, only adding a bit of flour if necessary. Kneading time is about 20-30 minutes.

Place bread dough in a bowl, cover with a wet kitchen towel/saran plastic. Set aside to proof until volume is almost doubled, about 1 hour in a warm kitchen.

Meanwhile, let's make the pizza sauce filling. Mix together tomato paste, olive oil, salt, sugar, ground pepper, garlic powder, and dried basil leaves. Set aside. Also, grease two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans. (*)

Once the bread has finished proofing, punch down to remove air bubbles. Then transfer the bread to a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 2 minutes, then roll into a rectangle of about 15-inch by 20-inch.

Spread pizza sauce filling on the rolled dough, leaving 1-inch uncovered around the edges, and top with shredded mozarella. Roll the bread from the long end into a log. Use a sharp knife to cut the log into 16 pieces. Place 8 pieces, cut side up, into each of the prepared pan. Brush the top of bread dough generously with melted butter. Cover the pan with a wet kitchen towel/saran plastic and proof again until the dough fill the pan, about 1 hour in a warm kitchen.

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Sprinkle the bread with some dried/fresh basil leaves (if using), and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

Remove the bread from oven. Let it rest in the pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes, then gently remove the bread from the pan and cool on a wire rack. It is best to serve the bread warm.