Herb & Cheese Pull-Apart Loaf - We Knead To Bake # 1

la ricetta in italiano qui

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen had a very nice idea for this new 2013, bake a different bread every month, 12 breads in all this year.

She created a group on FB  "We Knead To Bake!" to keep track of our discussions about each bread we bake, a place for questions, suggestions, anything can help each other out.

The group is reserved to those baking the 12 breads but anyone would like to join and have fun they are most welcome, just send a message or an e-mail to Aparna, but hurry up because she won't be accepting any more requests to be a part of this group after the 30th of this month. Then if the group is willing to bake together for another year (2014), she shall consider opening the group to more bakers.
Today's the day of revealing, we all have to blog about the bread on the 24th of the month, linking each post to Aparna's, where you can find the complete list of baked breads.

As for the first bread, Aparna chose this delicious and very good-looking Herb & Cheese Pull-Apart Loaf  (it was a greedy centerpice on our last Sunday lunch table!).

It is a savoury pull apart bread with a dry spread/ filling. This version has no eggs but might be added, will improve the texture of the bread. Any change for health/ diet related reasons or if you are not able to find a particular ingredient were allowed. Any filling at your choice will give a personal touch - a pesto, fresh herbs, herbed butter, caramelised onions, some other cheese including paneer, sundried tomatoes, grated carrot, non-vegetarian options ... it's a multitasking bread :-).
If you would like to make a sweet pullapart bread, then add about 1/4 cup sugar to your dough, and use a sweet filling like cinnamon and sugar.

My first bread: as from recipe but dry yeast substituted with fresh yeast - garlic paste omitted - used mixed seeds as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and flax - added chopped sundried tomatoes.

My second bread: as from recipe but dry yeast substituted with fresh yeast - butter substituted with extravirgin olive oil - milk substituted with oat milk - garlic paste omitted - used mixed seeds as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and flax - added chopped sundried tomatoes.

Dough:

1/2 cup warm milk

1 tsp sugar

 2 tsp active dry yeast

2 3/4 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

25gm butter, soft at room temperature

 3/4 to 1 tsp garlic paste

3/4 cup milk (+ a couple of tbsp to brush over the bread)

Filling:

15 to 20gm melted butter

2 tsp dried Provencal or mixed herbs

1 tsp crushed cumin seeds

Crushed pepper/red chilli flakes to taste

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Use a food processor but you may knead the dough by hand.
In a small bowl, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm milk. Keep aside for about 5 minutes till the yeast mixture bubbles up. 

Put 2 3/4 cup of flour, salt, softened butter, and garlic paste in the food processor bowl (or a large bowl) and pulse a couple of times to mix. Then add the yeast mixture and the 3/4 cup of milk and knead till you have a soft, smooth and elastic/ pliable dough which is not sticky. Add a little extra flour if your dough is sticking, but only just as much as is necessary.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to coat it completely with oil. Cover and let it rise for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until almost double in volume.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour. Deflate the dough, shape it into a square and roll the dough out into a larger square that is about 12’ by 12”. Brush the surface of the square with the melted butter. Evenly sprinkle the herbs, pepper/ chilli flakes and the cumin seeds and then the grated cheese. Use a rolling pin to very lightly press the topping into the dough to ensure the topping doesn’t fall off when you are stacking the strips.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough from top to bottom into 6 long and even strips – they do not have to be perfect. Lay each strip on top of the next, with the topping facing upwards, until you have a stack of the strips.

You can put the 2 strips cut from the sides in the middle of the stack so it looks neater. Using a pastry scraper or a sharp knife, cut straight down through the stack dividing it into 6 equal pieces (6 square stacks).

Grease and lightly flour a 9” by 4” (or 5”) loaf tin. Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Layer the square slices, cut sides down into the loaf tin.

Cover the loaf tin dough with a towel and allow the dough to rise for an hour. Lightly brush some milk over the top of the loaf.

Bake the dough at 180C (350F) for about 30 to 40 minutes until it is done and the top is golden brown. This recipe bakes one 9” by 5” loaf.

This recipe also goes to Susan's weekly YeastSpotting