Pizza Monkey Bread

It was birthed from Pinterest and the Super Bowl. I wanted to have fun food for our family to enjoy during the big game. I did two kinds of wings and a pizza pull apart-monkey bread thing.

And then, months later, when grappling for a dinner to have for the family after my hubs and kids got home from AWANA on Sunday night, I asked my hubs to make pizza dough and a set recipe/process sort of happened. Side note: my husband makes our bread each week using our bread maker. He makes the dough but bakes the loaves in the oven. He has also perfected a pizza dough and we were having homemade pizzas every week for a while there, too. But I wanted to do something other than make pizza so the pull apart was the option. I'd rather cut up the dough than try to roll it out thin enough for pizza.

The first thing I did was make my own pizza seasoning. It's too simple - just 4 parts Italian Seasoning and 1 part garlic powder. I keep a batch in a Mason jar in my pantry.

Next, I cook up some spicy Italian sausage. I use links and I roast them in a 400F oven for 20-30 minutes, turning once, until they are cooked well. And then when they are cool enough, I chop them into a medium dice. I do this while the dough is coming together in the bread maker. 

I use very unfancy Parmesan/Romano cheese in the can. And that Ziploc bag of pizza cheese was in a brand bag that ripped when I tried to open it. It is a pizza cheese blend, but straight mozzarella will work.

About the dough - any dough will will work. Store bought pizza dough. Frozen bread dough. Canned biscuits or bread dough. We are fortunate enough that bread making is a regular thing so it's not a huge deal to make it and it's super easy in the bread maker. That pile of dough above is a recipe and a half and will make two pull apart loaves in Bundt pans.

I cut the dough ball in to quarters. And then I'll cut those pieces into quarters and so on until I get a piece that's about 1" diameter - see that little piece in the corner? That's the final cut size.

I pour a healthy amount of olive oil into the bottom of a large bowl and then I just toss the small dough pieces into the bowl as I cut them. I'll stir them occasionally so they don't stick to each other.

Once all of the dough is cut and coated in oil, I toss in the pizza seasoning and mix well.

And then I add the Parmesan/Romano and mix well.

And then in goes the pizza blend.

And then the meat.

Spray a Bundt pan liberally with cooking spray. This will stick. And then dump the dough, cheese, meat mix into the pan. I find that I have to tweak how the meat is in there or it will all end up on one side or the bottom. And I try not to have loose meat hanging out on top.

I forgot to take pictures of the rest and can you believe I don't have a finished shot either? But there are more steps... Wait! I found one.

Cover with a cloth and let rise for a bit - I usually try to give it at least 20-30 minutes. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, it may not rise much and that's OK. It will still be good. 

While it's rising, I let the oven warm up to 375F. Once the rise is to my liking (or I run out of time because the family will be home soon), I bake it for about 25 minutes.

Warm up some pizza sauce for dipping and once it comes out of the oven you're good for eating. Just turn it out onto a plate and try to keep hands off it it before you get it to the table.

Edited to Add: So there are no quantities in this explanation and that's because I just throw stuff in there until it looks right. There's no right or wrong on the quantities. Don't want meat? Leave it out. Want more cheese? Add more. It is simply that easy.