Ham & Cheese Braid

Preheat your oven to 425.

Roll out your pizza dough onto parchment paper set on the counter. It will be all jumbled and wrinkley, that’s fine. Roll it out or pat it out with your hands very thinly into a big square. (I trim mine off into a square with my pizza cutter because I have cooking OCD! I swear but you don’t have to be so precise.) Leaving a big two to three inch strip in the middle for the goodies to go. Slice into the edges of the dough on each side, every 1/2 inch or so so you make flaps to fold over and braid with. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt your butter over medium low heat. Add the cream and chunked up Velveeta, whisking till combined and smooth. Use a spoon, test to see if it coats the back of the spoon and stays there. That’s what you want…thick and creamy. If it’s too thin, whisk in some more Velveeta. Stir in the mustard if using. Remove from heat and let cool a minute or two.

Spread on the cheese sauce in the middle of your dough in a thick layer right down the middle. Add your ham on top of the cheese sauce, as much or as little as you want. Top with a sprinkling of the mozzarella/provolone cheese.

Now the fun part! Braid the dough over top of the ham and cheeses, pulling the dough across and stretching if you have to. It’s ok…its really forgiving to work with! When you get to the end, if you have dough left over, just trim it or tuck under the braid.

Move the parchment paper to a low edge cookie sheet and brush the top of the braid with the beaten egg. Salt and pepper to taste and pop it in the oven for about 15-18 minutes. Let it cool for about 3 minutes before slicing or the cheese sauce will ooze out EVERYWHERE and you don’t want that.

Makes 4 individual size servings. (Or two if you’re uber hungry!)