Egg-ie Stuffed Bread

This past weekend was filled with dyed Easter egg decorating, and while it's all fun and games at the time, the looming question afterward is - What to do with all those boiled eggs? Egg salad sandwiches and deviled eggs get old really fast, so I found another way to eat up those eggies by making braided stuffed bread.

Simply put, I made a simple Italian bread dough, rolled it out, and filled the bread insides with boiled eggs, veggies, cheese...anything tasty I found in my fridge. It's like the kitchen sink soup in bread form!

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or brunch. This stuffed bread defies traditional meal time status quo. 

As long as you make the bread dough, you can basically stuff it with whatever you fancy. While I made mine with eggs, veggies, and cheese to use up my Easter eggs, and here are some other cool ideas you can try:

• Chicken, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and chopped tomatoes
• Curried potatoes, baby spinach, and peas
• Boiled eggs, bacon, cheese, and avocado
• Skirt steak, caramelized onions, and cheese
• Pulled pork, chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, avocado, and spicy salsa

Egg-ie Stuffed Braided Bread

• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 1 Tbs dry active yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 5 cups all-purpose flour (whole wheat and bread flour works too) + extra for kneading
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Olive oil for greasing
• 6 boiled eggs + 2 cups worth of veggies/cheese/meats with which you want to stuff the bread

Culinary Dance Steps

1. In a large bowl, mix together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let the mixture sit for a minute or two so the yeast can come alive and have a little sugary snack.
2. Sprinkle in the salt. Stir in 4.5 cups of flour, until the dough it pliable to start kneading. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining flour until the dough is smooth and firm, but not sticky to the touch. You can tell the dough is ready when you poke the dough, and it springs back a little.
3. Grab another large mixing bowl and grease the bowl sides with olive oil.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the oiled bowl. Use a little more oil to coat the entire dough ball lightly.
5. Cover the dough bowl with a kitchen towel, and place the bowl in a warm spot in the kitchen (~70-75°F). Let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size. The rise times will vary depending on how warm or cool your kitchen is, so be flexible!
6. When the dough has doubled in size, uncover the dough bowl and gently punch the dough to release the large air bubbles. Roll the dough into a rectangle shape with a 1/2 thickness.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
8. Place the rolled dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cut darts, 1-2" wide 2-3" long  into the sides of the dough using a knife or kitchen scissors. 
   
9. In the middle of the dough, add the eggs, vegetables, cheese, meats, and other ingredients you want in the stuffed bread.
10. Fold up the top and bottom flaps of the dough. Then crisscross the side dough darts to make a braid. 
11. Bake the braided bread for 30 minutes, until the bread is golden brown. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before serving.