Braided Bread and buns with Cheese and Pesto sauce
For the Braided bread/ bun
1.Instant yeast-2 tsp
Sugar-3 tsp
Milk-1 cup[lukewarm]
Add all the above ingredients to the lukewarm milk except salt . stir well till sugar is dissolved.
2.all purpose flour-1 cup
Wheat flour-2 cups
egg-1
salt-1 1/2 tsp [adjust to your taste keeping in mind that the filling also has salt]
olive/refined oil-2-3 tbsps [i used 2 tbsps olive oil]
lukewarm water-1/4 cup [if needed]
Mix together the flours & salt and add to the above milk-yeast mixture 1 cup at a time & stirring in..gradually mix in the remaining four & the egg.Add lukewarm water if needed to form a sticky dough.
Now add 1 1/2 tbsps of oil to the dough & knead the dough for 10 minutes on the countertop.Knead till the oil is incorporated & u get a smooth dough. cover & set this aside to rise for 45minutes-1 hour until it doubles.[here the temp.is high,so it doubled in 45 minutes].Punch down the risen dough and divide into 2 parts.
3.Pesto suce-recipie given below
Cheddar/Mozzarella cheese grated-3/4 cup[as reqd]
Place one part on a floured surface & roll it into a very thin rectangle.Spread a thin layer of the pesto sauce on top of the dough, leaving the edges.Sprinkle some grated cheese over this.Now roll the dough tightly into a log from the long side.
With a sharp knife cut the log into half lengthwise leaving 1" on top.Cross the two halves to get X shape.Now braid this by placing the right half over the left one,keeping the cutside/layers facing up.Repeat till u reach the end.Pinch the ends together.Now carefully transfer this to an oiled parchment paper on a tray.Gently join the two ends of the braided dough together to resemble a large bun,keeping the layers facing up.Cover this & keep aside to rise for the second time.
The dough will take almost 30-40 minutes to double. Once doubled,brush with egg wash lightly.Preheat the oven at 170 C & bake the doubled braided bread for 20-30 minutes or top is browned & the cheese melts& starts to brown. . Mine took around 22 minutes.Once baked,remove to the cake rack & brush the top immediately with olive oil.Allow it to cool slightly.Serve warm.
4.Mozzarella cheese-200 gm ,cut into 15 pieces.
With the second part I made around 13 balls.Place a ball in your palm & flatten it.Place a cheese cube & some pesto sauce in the middle & reshape them into balls and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper 1" apart since the dough rises a bit.
5.egg-1(beaten)
sugar & milk-1tsp each [optional]
Water-1 tbsp
Beat the egg and water together lightly.If using milk & sugar,add to egg & beat instead of water.
White sesame seeds-1-2 tbsps
After u have stuffed all the balls with the filling & reshaped into balls ,brush the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle the sesame seeds over it and set aside to rise for another 20-30 minutes.(If its cold weather u can preheat ur oven for 10 minutes around 160 C and off the oven and keep the baking trays with buns inside it to rise for the second time]
After 20- 30 minutes brush again with the egg wash & bake in a preheated oven for 10-20 minutes at 170 C or top is golden..Mine took exactly 13 minutes. This may vary depending on the type of oven you use.Remove from oven & immediately brush the top with butter/olive oil.Transfer to a cake rack & allow to cool slightly.Serve warm.
For the Pesto sauce
6.Almonds-1/4 cup
Garlic-4[big]
Pepper powder-1/2 tsp
Green Chillies-6
Corriander leaves-3/4 cup
Salt to taste
Olive oil-1/4 cup
In a mixie ground this together except oil for a few minutes.Add olive oil,2 tbsps at a time & blend until u get a smooth paste.Adjust seasonings.
Sunflower bread with cheese and pesto sauce 2:1 wwf: Apf
Used half of the dough for this sunflower bread. Step By Step pictures of the pattern in photos
Comments