THIS WEEK: PESTO AND SUNDRIED TOMATO BREAD

Hello everyone. I hope that you are all well. I met a lady in the supermarket a couple of weeks ago and we had such a lengthy conversation about bread, that I decided I would give you a delicious bread recipe this week. Bread is such an important part of so many meal experiences and with this bread option you have a series of interesting and flavoured filling within the bread itself. This is a great tasty bread option and a great way of jazzing up a white soda bread recipe. Feel free to experiment with different flavours.

RECIPE

A little oil or butter for greasing 1lb/450g plain flour

1 level teaspoon bread soda 1/2 tsp salt

4oz/110g sundried tomatoes, chopped

Approximately 12floz/350ml buttermilk

2 tablespoons basil pesto (Recipe below)

2oz/50g grated parmesan cheese

Basil Pesto

1 large handful fresh basil leaves

1 dessertspoon grated parmesan cheese

1 dessertspoon pine nuts-toasted or untoasted

2 cloves of garlic

100-150ml olive oil

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170C/ 325F/ Gas Mark 3.

Lightly grease a flat baking tray with a little oil or butter and dust lightly with some plain flour.

Sieve together the flour, bread soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the chopped sundried tomatoes. Make a well in the centre, pour in most of the buttermilk and, using a spoon mix to a soft dough. Sometimes, depending on the moisture content of the sundried tomatoes, you may need to add a little extra milk to bring the mixture together.

Transfer the mixture onto a lightly- floured work surface and flatten gently with a rolling pin into a rough square shape ( approximately 9 inch / 23cm in diameter).

Spread the pesto over the dough, sprinkle with the cheese and roll the dough up like a swiss roll.

Carefully transfer the bread onto the previously- lined baking tray and sprinkle the top of the bread with a little plain flour.

Bake for 35- 45 minutes approximately until the bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Edward’s Handy Hint:

Try using some chopped roasted vegetables or cheese instead of the sundried tomatoes.

Basil Pesto

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blitz.

Store the pesto in a sterilized jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks