Wild Garlic Tear and Share Bread

If you can’t get hold of wild garlic, use 200g basil pesto, instead.

Hands-on time 40min, plus rising and cooling. Cooking time about 40min. Serves 10

FOR THE DOUGH

 450g strong white flour, plus extra to dust

 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

 50g butter, melted and cooled, plus extra to grease

 2 medium egg yolks

 250ml milk

FOR THE PESTO

 75g wild garlic, see intro

 50g Parmesan or vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese, finely grated

 2tbsp pine nuts

 4tbsp olive oil

1 For the dough, in a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook, or in a large bowl, mix flour, yeast and 1/2tsp fine salt. Add melted butter, egg yolks and milk and mix to form a dough. If making by hand, tip on to a lightly floured work surface. Knead by hand or on medium speed for 5-10min, or until smooth and elastic. Return to the bowl (if needed), cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1hr 30min, or until doubled in size.

2 Lightly grease a 900g loaf tin. For the pesto, in a food processor whizz all the ingredients with plenty of seasoning until fairly smooth. Tip the risen dough on to a lightly floured work surface and roll into a rough 40 x 40cm square. Spread the pesto over the dough, then cut the dough into 16 smaller squares.

3 Neatly stack the squares on top of one another, placing the final square pestoside down. Transfer the dough tower to the tin, placing it on its side, then loosely cover with greased clingfilm (butterside down) and leave to rise again for 1hr 30min-2hr, or until noticeably puffed.

4 Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Uncover and bake the loaf for 35-40min, or until deep golden brown (cover loosely with foil if browning too quickly). Leave to cool in the tin for 15min before transferring to a board. Serve warm or at room temperature. PER SERVING 320cals, 10g protein, 15g fat (5g saturates), 35g carbs (2g total sugars), 2g fibre TO STORE Once cool, wrap in foil. Keep at room temperature for up to 2 days.