Cheesy Pesto Pull-Apart Bread.
I don’t even know what to say about these… little puffs of love?
I want to say they are perfect football food, but they are perfect EVERYTHING food. Um, I’m kind of even considering them for Thanksgiving which is huge because Thanksgiving in my world is all omg-don’t-make-one-untraditional-thing-including-real-life-cranberry-sauce. It’s true.
It’s like pull-apart bread meets the softest dinner roll meets flavorful buns. (I laughed at the last part because I’m a ten-year-old boy inside.) But really. There is a TON of flavor here. This is the first recipe you saw pop up in Sunday’s video and it’s simply a delicious dough covered in loads of butter, pesto, parmesan and fontina cheese. To die for. I’m just going to shorten that to TDF because I type it in nearly every blog post. Noooo I can’t be more original.
I used this classic pesto from DeLallo – because let’s be real – I’ve more than documented my share of dead garden herbs over the last three years. I can’t keep them alive to save my own life. But! I’m hoping now that we’ve moved and I might have more space/room for a mini garden of sorts, I can get my act together and grow some green stuff. If you’re in that boat, the successful-at-growing-herbs boat, then you probably packed away a bunch of basil at some point in September… and this is the perfect excuse to use it. Obviously: with more bread and cheese.
You need a good amount of pesto though, because you’re going to smother the heck out of the buttery dough.
The other option is that you can make an arugula pesto… perhaps my all-time favorite pesto, but I don’t find it to be as potent when it comes to flavoring the bread. Sure, it’s peppery and wonderful, but it lacks some of that herby flavor. You know? You can totally mix it WITH basil though!! Or or or… you can make the double herb kale pesto from Seriously Delish but the real question is who wants to ruin their bread and cheese with kale?
Not I. Let’s save that for pasta and things like sandwiches and such?
You probably should not take my advice though. Yesterday I attempted to hide a large amount of chocolate from myself only to “discover” (remember?) it again by midnight so it’s not like I’m really the voice of reason here.
The voice of reason says make these cheesy rolls though. They whispered it in my ear.
Cheesy Pesto Skillet Pull Apart Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large egg
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/3 cup basil pesto
- 6 ounces fontina cheese, freshly grated
- finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for dusting
- fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Combine the milk and water in the bowl of your electric stand mixer. Stir in the yeast and honey, then add the olive oil. Let sit until foamy, about 15 minutes. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the salt, the egg, cheese and pesto. Beat on medium-low speed with the paddle attachment until just combined, then switch to the dough hook. Add in the remaining flour while the mixer is kneading on low speed. Knead the dough for 5 to 6 minutes – it should be slightly sticky but still pull away from the sides. If it’s super sticky, add a bit more flour until it appears silky.
- Remove the dough and place it in a well-oiled bowl. Cover it with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until it’s at least doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead it a few times, the break or cut it into 12 or 14 equal pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a large oven-safe skillet with melted butter. Form the dough into equal sized balls (or rolls), and brush them with melted butter as well, placing them in the skillet. Sprinkle the dough with the fontina, pushing it in between the balls of dough. Spread the pesto on top and in between the rolls as well. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tops are golden and set. Remove the bread and sprinkle it with extra parmigiano-reggiano and basil leaves. Serve immediately while warm.
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
promise i’ll give you a break from the cheese on Monday. (maybe.)
41 Comments on “Cheesy Pesto Pull-Apart Bread.”
Soft pull-apart bread with cheese….now that is totally worth the cardio! :) Pinned! Looks incredible and wish I was having it for breakfast right now! Lol
Puffs of love indeed! HELLO beautiful!
Last night, I stumbled upon the two huge bags of chocolate Halloween candy I bought a couple weeks ago. One of those bags contains Hershey’s Cookies & Cream Bars. For some reason, I cannot get enough of those bars!
You know what else I cannot get enough of? Bread. Not only am I a total chocoholic, I’m a breadholic, too. LOVE this pull-apart bread, Jessica! Cheese, pesto, bread. I’m in bread heaven!
I am so glad I am not the only one buying pesto. I tried to buy a basil plant. It was dead the NEXT DAY. I have the black thumb,
These may be the bites of love that get me through football season. For that, I thank you. Pinned!
This looks fantastic. You had me at bread
You had me at cheesy.. then pesto… then easy… then skillet!!! Four of my favourite things hehe. Lovely recipes, Bec x
Cheese + pesto + bread = 3 of my fave things! This recipe looks SO delicious. I’ll have to try it out when we have company in town in a few weeks!
You and I are on the same pull apart bread wave length! And I love it. Never thought of pesto. Sounds and looks fabulous!
Surely got to give it a go. :)
Have a wonderful weekend Jessica!
I have never tried making a cheesy pull apart bread, and that’s CRAZY. Time to change things. Agreed… just buy the pesto. It’s my dream to have a veggie and herb garden, except for the part where I have to garden. Hate it! Haha. Thanks for sharing this awesome bread!
YUM! Making this the next night we make pizza! Looks so incredibly delicious
Emily
http://www.workinggirlafterhours.com
I always make pull apart bread for parties, adding some pesto is a nice kick! Great idea!
What are the mixing instructions if we don’t have the fancy mixer with the dough hook? Can I use a normal blender or better to use my hands?
I think the only way to improve cheesy pull apart bread is by adding pesto. So there you go.
I am always looking for ways to dress up dinner rolls. This may be my new standby. Would go perfectly with my meatballs and marinara recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I love this! It looks amazing, but then, it’s bread and cheese, what’s not to like?! Can’t wait to try this one. Pinned!
Is this recipe real? I mean seriously I need this in my life – yesterday. These are perfect.
Mmmm pull apart bread and cheese…the perfect combination!
Little puffs of love and flavorful buns…there could be no other description, ha! :)
This looks amazing jessica!
Welp, this just makes me want to cry a little that things like this exist. And I just want to eat it all because it’s bread and cheese and pesto and all things I adore wrapped in one. Pinned!
Hi there, great dish! How about adding it to the Food on Friday: Cheese collection over at Carole’s Chatter? Cheers
Mmmmmmm. How disappointed am I that I don’t live near you…. We would be good friends! Oh and Thanksgiving is aaaalllllll about traditions. Last year I visited my brother for the holiday and we ate in a restaurant. And there was pretty much no Thankshiving food. Never again!
Hey! I just wanted to say that I love your blog and recipes! I made the bread tonight and while I was reading the instructions, I noticed that you might have forgotten to add the egg in the directions. I added the egg to the flour, salt, cheese, and pesto mixtures. Is that correct?
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I am all about a cheesy pull-apart bread. Add some pesto and I am set! Gorgeous!
The last picture looks like a fish.
Grew lots of basil and other herbs this summer…didn’t pack any away in September :( and miss ease of herbs on demand…but that can always be remedied by a trip to the store to make these yummy pull apart rolls…
I made this tonight, followed recipe to the letter. ick , it was SOOO dry and no flavor, what gives?
Just goes to show most people comment before they have tried it
Oh my daaaaaaang this looks delicious.
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I feel like it’s important to listen to the voice of reason, in this case – I’m listening to yours — HOLY YUM!
Aaaaalllll kinds of dead.
First of all, please never give us a break on the cheese! I love love love cheese. Secondly, this sounds AMAZING! Perfect for my annual prep for hibernation period each fall :)
This looks ridiculously good! Luckily, my MIL had an amazing basil crop this year, and made ton of basil. Gotta put them in good use! :)
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Jalapeño might be the perfect addition to what looks like a fantastic bread. Not sure how that would play with pesto but jalapeño is a natural with cheese and should work well with pesto.
Love love love!! Perfect preggers snack if you ask me!
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