Add the final three ingredients as late as possible in the final kneading stage. The bread is better if the islands of cheese are identifiable and if the pepper does not get Ground into the dough by the kneading process.

I enjoyed this bread at an Italian restaurant, so I tried to match it as close as I could. Used the basic recipe from Italian bread in "The Bread Machine Cookbook" (#1) and added the garlic and pepper.

Good luck. Hope this works out for you. Please let me know of your improvements on this very basic recipe.