Challenge #1: Braided Baked Spaghetti (Success!!)

     So this was one of my first official "Pinterest" challenges and it was definitely a success! I have since made it a few times and make some improvements and changes each time. It is definitely delicious and I even had my fairly traditional grandparents try this and enjoy it on a Sunday dinner (even though Sunday is "supposed to be roast day!).

    This first challenge I had with this recipe was finding the dough. I have unfortunately not been able to master the art of bread making so to save time, money, and many frustrations I decided to look for ready made dough. After checking out a couple different grocery stores, through asking questions at the bakery sections I found out that some stores will sell you their uncooked dough that they use for fresh bread they bake in the store daily (whether it be french, italian, etc). I found out that Sobey's will sell you frozen dough for the same price as their cooked dough (totally worth it in my opinion!). The first step is to roll out the dough into a rectangle (this may prove to be more difficult that you think!). 

    After it has been rolled out you can take some already cooked pasta with the sauce of your choosing and lay it down the middle of the dough. (**This is where I have made a change from making it again - I personally recommend using a homemade sauce (my mom makes a great one!) as it's much better than the canned but in a pinch canned sauce works well also). 

    Once the spaghetti is laid out you can cut up some cubes of cheese and lay them down on top of the pasta. You can then take a knife/pizza/cutter/etc (I used a pastry/pie rolling cutter) and cut the dough into strips up until the point of the pasta. Once you have done this you can start braiding the bread by folding one piece over the other and so on until you reach the end where you can pinch the end together.

    This is the point where I have also made some improvements since making it a second time. At this point I transferred the loaf to a parchment paper lined cookie sheet (probably the hardest part of the entire process....not even kidding). At this point I spread some melted butter over top of the bread and sprinkle some parmasean cheese, italian seasoning, and some garlic powder/mix. I found this was a missing piece the first time I made it as the bread seemed a little bland and this definitely helped. 

    The next step is to bake the bread. I won't give a specific temperature and time as it totally depends on the type of bread you choose and your oven. It takes ~30-35 mins and you want to cook it until the bread is golden brown. 

    Like I said at the beginning it turns out great and VERY YUMMY! Below is the link for the original recipe. I hope you enjoyed this post and continue reading my adventures in conquering different Pinterest challenges!

http://www.rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/braided-spaghetti-bread   (mine obviously does not look as pretty as the professionals here....haha)