Pesto hesitancy doesn't win this time.

Tuesdays have become my day for trying new recipes. I'm working from home, I can start right at 2:30 when I sign out of work and can do prep on my lunch if need be. I had two recipes on my docket and kept hemming and hawing on this pull apart bread recipe. I didn't have pesto - wasn't sure if I had enough basil to make pesto... Ugh... don't know!!! Well, I found myself getting the dough ingredients into my dough mixer. I whizzed up some pesto with my basil starts for the garden - they are getting a tad too big anyway... and some I was drying from my Aero garden. Even added some parsley to the mix. Of course I read the recipe all the way through - and noticed you put the pesto and cheese and make a little taco - no... no I sure didn't. So I pulled them all back out and made tacos. Not sure what I'm talking about? Read the recipe - ALL the way through. Haha!
This rose beautifully and Andy tossed it in the oven while I went to pick up a kid from something. It baked up brown and delicious, added the garlic butter and cheese to the top - we pulled it apart and enjoyed. It was the right call and delicious call for sure!

Pesto Pull Apart-Bread
2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup (180g/ml) whole milk, warmed to about 110°F (43°C)
3 Tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed*
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Filling
1/2 cup (125g) basil pesto
1 cup (125g / 4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

Topping
2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons (15g) freshly grated or shredded parmesan cheese
optional for garnish: extra pesto

Make the dough: Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Or, if you do not own a stand mixer, a regular large mixing bowl. Whisk in the warm milk, then loosely cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. The mixture will be frothy after 5-10 minutes.
If you do not have a mixer, you can mix the dough together with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula in this step. Add the butter, egg, flour, salt, garlic powder, and dried basil. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Dough will be soft.
Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golf ball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
1st Rise: Shape the kneaded dough into a ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl (I use nonstick spray to grease) and cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Place in a slightly warm environment to rise until doubled in size, around 60-90 minutes. (If desired, use my warm oven trick for rising. See my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
As the dough rises, grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and prepare the pesto.
Assemble & fill the bread: Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 12 equal pieces, about 1/4 cup of dough or 50g each (a little larger than a golf ball). Using lightly floured hands, flatten each into a circle that’s about 4 inches in diameter. The circle doesn’t have to be perfectly round. I do not use a rolling pan to flatten, but you certainly can if you want. Spread 1-2 teaspoons of pesto onto each. Sprinkle each with 1 heaping Tablespoon of mozzarella cheese. Fold circles in half and line in prepared baking pan, round side up. See photos above for a visual.
2nd Rise: Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow to rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 45 minutes. Do not extend this 2nd rise, as the bread could puff up too much and spill over the sides while baking.
Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position then preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. If you find the top of the loaf is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack.
Make the topping: Mix the melted butter and garlic butter together. Brush on the warm bread and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. If desired, drop a couple spoonfuls of fresh pesto on top (or serve with extra pesto.) Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and serve warm.
Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Since the bread is extra crispy on the exterior, it will become a little hard after day 1. Reheat in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 10-15 minutes until interior is soft again or warm in the microwave.