{Recipe} Pesto Pull-Apart Bread

Pesto Pull-Apart Bread

This blog is slowly becoming all about baking. Funny, but I actually don’t bake that often. It’s less than once a week on average and I cook something different almost every day. The thing is, baked goods are so much easier to photograph. Bread tastes great both warm and room temperature; and sweets actually need to be cooled. Whereas dinners need to be eaten right away. I guess I could setup a shot while dinner is cooking in the oven and do a quick photo session, but it’s usually late and I’m tired. Also, most of the recipes are too quick and easy to warrant a separate blog post, although I did make a wicked lentil-biscuit pot pie that I’d like to share. 

I had two bunches of dill in my fridge a couple of weeks ago. One I bought to make a nice garlic-herb rub for roast leg of lamb, and the other was given to me by my best friend since she couldn’t finish it. I knew right away that the easiest way to use up all the dill would be to make Dill Pesto, but I wasn’t sure what to make with it and then I came across this recipe.

This bread recipe is one of my favourite right now. It looks beautiful and impressive and tastes amazing. 

adapted from The Big Book of Bread

• Grease a deep 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
• Sift the flour, sugar and yeast into a bowl of electric stand mixer.
• Mix in enough water to form a soft dough.
• Add the salt. I always like adding salt once sugar and yeast are combined.
• Knead the dough with a hook on low speed for about 10 minutes until it’s smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl anymore.
• Shape the dough into a round, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour until it doubles in size.
• Punch the dough down on a floured worktop, then roll out to form a 16×11-inch rectangle.
• Spread the pesto sauce over the dough, then sprinkle with grated cheese.
• Starting from a long side, roll up the dough tightly like a jelly roll.
• Cut into 16 even slices, then place the rolls, cut-side up, in a circular pattern in the prepared cake pan.
• Cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
• Brush the spirals with milk, then bake for 30-35 minutes, or until they become  deep golden-brown colour.
• Pull the rolls apart to serve.
• They taste great both warm or room temperature.

Pest Pull-Apart Bread

I never measure ingredients for Pesto, so I can’t give a precise recipe, but this is how I make it.

I put herbs (any herbs, dill, parsley, cilantro… I don’t like basil, so I never use it and I don’t buy pesto because of that), garlic, nuts (usually pecans because they are my favourite) and a little bit of oil in a food processor and chop it until it’s very fine. I do not add cheese. I add water to make the consistency a bit more spreadable without adding oil and I add a pinch of salt.