Pizza Monkey Bread

Are you a fan of the regular, round pizza cut into triangular slices? Bleh, boring! Well, our tear-and-share, pull-apart bread is an amazing and fun take on the old-school pizza. It does require little bit of effort and time, but trust me, it's all worth it.

Ingredients [2 servings]:

For the dough-

200 gm all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp instant yeast or 1 tsp dried active yeast

1 tsp salt

120 mL lukewarm milk (approx.)

15 gm butter

For the sauce-

3 medium-sized tomatoes

5-6 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Dried basil

Oregano

Chili flakes

Tomato ketchup

Salt

Black pepper

For the toppings-

Veggies of your choice (diced)

Mozzarella cheese (grated)

Method:

1. Mix together flour, salt and yeast together.

2. Add milk to it little by little and start kneading.

3. Stretch and knead the dough to develop gluten and keep adding milk.

4. Add softened butter to the dough and incorporate well.

5. Knead until the dough is extremely soft and pillowy and shiny and crease-free.

6. Place the dough in a greased bowl (also oil the dough), cover the bowl so that no air enters it and let the dough proof for 45 mins to 1 hour.

7. Now for the sauce, heat up the olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic to it.

8. After the garlic has turned light golden, add finely chopped tomatoes to it.

9. Cook the tomatoes until soft and mushy.

10. Now add the seasonings (basil, oregano, chili flakes, salt, black pepper) and tomato ketchup to it, according to your taste, and cook for a minute or two.

11. Let it cool and either leave it chunky or blend it in a blender.

12. When the dough has doubled in size, punch it and remove the excess air.

13. Cut the dough into tiny pieces (do not worry about their shapes) and toss them into the sauce.

14. Coat them with the sauce generously and put half of them in your greased baking tin.

15. Add in half of your chopped veggies and grated mozzarella (even cheddar cheese works great).

16. Add the remaining dough pieces, topped with veggies and cheese and let it proof for a minimum of 30 mins (do not forget to cover it).

17. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for roughly 35-40 mins. You know it's done when it's golden brown all over the top and not very squishy.

18. Let it cool for 5 mins in the tin and demould and enjoy your hot cheese pull!

Important Tips:

- Instead of instant yeast, you can use dried active yeast (3/4 tsp of instant yeast ~ 1 tsp of dried active yeast), but it needs to be activated in lukewarm liquid first, and when it's frothy, add it to your flour and salt.

- Never let salt and yeast come in direct contact with each other or your yeast won't work.

- You can use store-bought pizza sauce instead of making your own. But homemade is so much better.

- Cut the dough into very tiny pieces or they will remain raw and doughy from inside.

This is a great recipe to make with your family or friends and then "tear and share" later, or even have it all by yourself! Plus it's way more delicious and pillowy-er than the regular pizza. Do make it and share your pictures with us by tagging us on Instagram @themeltingcocoa.

Enjoy! :)