Happy Sunday Bread Heads!
It is the time of year for basil so it must be the time of year for Pesto Bread! This is a lovely bread that gives a great pesto flavor without being over powered by it. Plus, it is very easy to make!
Pesto Bread
Ingredients:
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups hot water (120-130 degrees)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped basil leaves
2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
4 teaspoons finely minced garlic
Baking pans: 2 8"x4" loaf pans greased or Teflon
Method:
In a large mixing bowl or the work bowl of your stand mixer, measure two cups of the flour and the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Pour in the hot water and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, stir for one minute, until you have a thin batter.
Add flour ¼ at a time until you the dough forms a shaggy mass. If you are doing this by hand, turn out onto a well floured work surface to knead. This dough is really sticky at first so you might want to use a dough scraper to help you work it at the start. Just keep it moving and folding it over for a good eight minutes or so. The dough will become smooth and elastic as gluten develops. If it is horribly sticky, you can add sprinkles of flour, up to ¼ cup more.
If you are working with a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook and knead at medium speed for eight minutes. The dough will be smooth but soft.
Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise until it has doubled in volume, 30 -40 minutes.
While the dough is rising it is a good time to prepare the basil and cheese. You can use a food processor to chop the basil, if you like, but be very careful you don’t over processes it, you want the leaves finely chopped but not turned into mush.
To chop them by hand, you are going to make what is called a chiffonade then dice the leave a little further. To make the chiffonade, take ten or so basil leaves. Stack them on top of each other and then roll them into a tight cylinder. Starting at one end of the roll, slice thin slices, working your way to the other end. Spread the slices out and run your knife through them a couple of time to get finer pieces of basil.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into two roughly equal halves. Set one half aside. With your fingers press the other dough into a 12"x4" rectangle. The dough is going to be fairly thin but don’t sweat it.
Paint the center half of the rectangle with the olive oil (be sure to leave at least 2" at the top and bottom without olive oil so you can get a clean seam that will hold together!). Using half of each ingredient sprinkle your basil over the oil, then the garlic, then the parmesan cheese. When it is all on, press down, lightly on the toppings to set them in place.
Roll from the top down, keeping a good pressure on the dough the whole time. Pinch the seam tightly together and the place in your prepared pan, seam side down. Use your fingers to press the dough into the corners of the pan.
Repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover with wax paper and allow to rise for 40 minutes or until the dough is even with the top edge of the pan.
Set an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees for twenty minutes.
Slip your pans into the hot oven and bake for 40 minutes. The tops should be golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in the pans for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Turn the loaves out onto the cooling rack and finish cooling. Be careful, they can be a little fragile when hot (this is why they cool in the pans for a while).
Your kitchen will be filled with the smell of olive oil and basil. The bread is a fabulous accompaniment to pasta, and when toasted and used for sandwiches it is out of this world.
The flour is yours
If you are looking for the previous installments in this epic series, you can find them at the links below:
Scottish Soda Bread
Jewish or New York Style Rye
Pecan Sticky Buns
Irish Freckle Bread
Onion Braid Bread
Croissants Plain, Almond and Chocolate
Dark Grains Bread
French Bread and French Toast
Hot Cross Buns
Water Bagels
Best Ever Biscuits
English Style Oat Bread
Potato Bread
Scones – Cinnamon and Chocolate Chip
Danish Walnut Braid
Fragels! (Deep Fried Cinnamon Raisin Bagels)
Scones Orange Cranberry and Lemon Cherry Cornmeal
Italian Batter Bread
English Muffins
Braided Lemon Bread
Deep Dish and Thin Crust Pizza Dough
Guinness Stout Soft Pretzels