Herb Swirl Bread

 

 

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 8g salt
• 7g fast action dried yeast
• 350ml water
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• A large pinch of paprika
• 3 handfuls of fresh basil, finely chopped
• 100g parmesan, grated
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped
• 50g feta cheese
• 25g pine nuts

Method

1. Put the flour, salt, and yeast into a bowl and mix to combine. (Make sure not to put the salt on top of the yeast as it may deactivate it).
2. Add the water and mix to make a smooth dough. Turn the dough out onto a work top and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
3. Lightly grease a bowl with a little oil. Put the dough in the greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.
4. Meanwhile make the filling. Put the butter, crushed garlic, parika, basil, parmesan, rosemary, and sage into a bowl and beat with a spoon until smooth.
5. Punch the risen dough down in the bowl to knock out the extra air. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop and roll it out to a rectangle about 12×18”.
6. Spread the herb butter in an even layer over the dough, using a spatula or palette knife. Then crumble over the feta and sprinkle over the pine nuts in an even layer.
7. Roll the dough up, long-edge to long-edge to make a tight roll. Pinch along the joining edge to seal.
8. Take a sharp knife and cut down the middle of the roll to make two strands, leaving a little at the top of one end still joined. Then twist the strands over eachother to get a long twist, trying to keep the filling facing upwards as much as possible.
9. Coil the dough into a circle (like a snake) up to half way down the chain. Then coil the other half the other way to make a sort of ‘S’ shape.
10. Transfer the loaf to a lined baking tray. Cover and leave to rise for another 45 minutes – 1 hour, until doubled in size.
11. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Bake the loaf in the oven for around 40 minutes until golden brown and risen (it should also sound hollow when tapped on the base). Leave to cool and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x