Italian Antipasti Stuffed Bread
Cakes, Bakes & Breads
Feeds 6-8
Cook Time: 30 Mins plus 4 Hours for Proving
Difficulty: Medium
Fresh bread is just the best. It’s fun, interactive, easy and so fulfilling to make!
This is pretty much a plain old, pretty universal white loaf recipe that has been taken to the next level by simply stuffing it with delicious things, rolling it up and baking it!
This is also a proper table centre piece and a total show stopper if you’ve got guests coming round!
You can stuff it with anything you like. I’ve made versions with just cured meats and cheese, roasted vegetables, caramelised onions, simply just cheese, herby ones and just about everything in between!
Play around with fillings, toppings, dips to go with it! Get creative, use the leftovers in your fridge! It’s a brilliant way to use up stuff that’s just sort of lying around!
INGREDIENTS:
For The Dough:
500g Strong White Bread Flour
350g Luke Warm Water
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
7g Dried Yeast (1 Sachet)
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Sugar
For The Filling:
2 Tbsp Olives, Halved
2 Tbsp Roasted Red Peppers
4-6 Slices Cured Ham eg Proscuitto
1 Tbsp Basil Pesto
50g Parmesan, grated
Fresh Basil Leaves
2 Tsp Mixed Seeds - pumpkin, sunflower etc
1 Tbsp Milk or 1 Egg
METHOD:
To make the dough, add the warm water to a jug with the sugar and yeast - leave to activate for 5-10 minutes until it gets a little foamy
Add the flour to a bowl with the salt, add the water and the olive oil and use a fork to mix well
Once the dough starts to come together, use your hands to bring the dough to a ball before turning out onto a worktop and start to knead the dough
Knead the dough well until it becomes smooth and stretchy - if its a little sticky, clean you hands well then slightly wet your hands with water, this will help the dough from sticking to your hands too much!
Lightly oil a clean mixing bowl, place the kneaded dough in the bowl and cover the bowl loosely with a tea towel or cling film
Leave the bowl somewhere warm to prove until it has doubled in size. This might take up to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the room
Once doubled in size, knock the dough back by pushing it into the bowl
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a sqaure or rectangle shape on the worktop
Spread over your fillings evenly across all of the dough
Starting at the edge closest to you, roll the dough into a Swiss roll/roulade shape
Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Bring the ends of the dough around to form a ring and tuck the ends together and gently work the dough together to form a bond and seal the bread
Move the bread onto the baking sheet and lightly cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for around 45 mins - 1 hour until it is nicely risen
Pre-heat the oven to 220C
When the bread is ready to bake, brush the top of the bread with milk or an egg wash and sprinkle over some seeds
Place the baking sheet into the centre of the oven, throw a small glass of water into the bottom of the oven to create some steam, immediately shut the door and bake in the oven for 15 minutes before reducing the temperature to 180C and baking for a further 20-25 minutes
Check the bread is cooked by removing from the oven and gently tapping on the base - it should sound hollow!
When cooked, remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and leave to cool before slicing and enjoying!
This bread is best left to cool completely and then reheated if you’d prefer it warm!
