Saturday, September 29, 2007

SMOKED MOZZARELLA BREAD


















































For this I have adapted Ursula Ferrigno's Stromboli bread recipe. She does suggest that you use half smoked mozzarella but I wanted to add some tomatoes too. I have changed the method a little as I have slightly less pazienza than she. I like this recipe because the dough is "shaped", not rolled out, which is far less messy and there's a real fun bit towards the end!

Dough:
Half yeast cube, if in Italy, or a sachet of easy-blend yeast
half pint tepid water
1 lb Italian 00 flour or strong white bread flour
a little coarse seasalt
3 tablespoons olive oil



Filling and topping:
7 oz chopped mozzarella
7oz chopped smoked mozzarella
some cherry tomatoes which have been halved and marinated in olive oil and a little sugar - get as many seeds out of these as you can using a teaspoon
1 crushed garlic clove
a few torn basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
some sprigs rosemary
coarse seasalt and black pepper


Mix the flour, salt, olive oil and yeast in a wide, deep bowl and add the water. Mix with the dough hooks of a hand mixer [which is what I do] or chuck it all into a processor. In either case, whizz till you have a soft, pliable dough. Put the dough into a clean bowl, the base of which has been oiled [to stop a crust forming] and cover with a damp tea towel. Leave in a warm place for about 90 minutes till doubled in size.


Heat the oven to 200 C.


Knead the dough a little, still in the bowl, then turn it out onto a floured board. Pull it into an oblong shape with your hands. Spread the cheeses, tomatoes and garlic onto the dough and scatter the basil leaves over. Roll it up loosely, almost like a Swiss roll, from a narrow end and place it on an oiled baking sheet. [Mine has been well used, as you see.] You need to act quickly here or the dough will break - take a deep breath, pick it up and chuck it on! Use a skewer to make holes all over the top of the dough, right down to the surface of the baking sheet. Sprinkle over 1 tablesp of the olive oil, then the seasalt, black pepper and rosemary. Bake for 1 hour.


Let the bread cool, still on the baking sheet, for no more than 5 minutes , then - oh, I love this part! - pour over the rest of the olive oil and watch as the loaf absorbs it, as if by magic!

Enjoy warm [heavenly] or cold [good].

























17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I shall try this.... it looks bloody wonderful!

Lee said...

Now, that looks and sounds great! I could eat a few slices of that right now! :)

JayBee said...

WL

Looks lovely. I'm sure it is lovely but it is beyond me at the moment.

I've ben meaning to post for a while now to thank you for the link to the post about your mother: very difficult but very moving. Thanks for writing that.

jmb said...

I'm not going to try it because I try not to eat bread much. This looks just wonderful however. I'll just have to enjoy this virtual slice and imagine the aroma of fresh baked bread.
regards
jmb

Gretchen said...

Looks yummy! We make stromboli for special occassions. Haven't had it since the Steelers won the Stupidbowl two years ago. Will have to make it again soon.

lady macleod said...

Not fair to click on this first thing this morning after not having been able to eat yesterday... now I'm really hungry! It looks yummy, and great photographs.

Gledwood said...

Oh wow!
I will have to take down the rec'pe for this one
In our local Sainsbury's they do cheese rolls they are gorgeous and you get 12 for £1
but your malarkey looks much nicer.

Gledwood said...

btw I'm listening to Desert Island Discs through the computer... at the same time as being here.
I only found out how to do it deliberately not accidentally today. The Radio 4 window has to be over the blog window then you can minimize it... I got radio 4 in a smaller window by googling it through the google window in my blog because that appears smaller

Gledwood said...

If you're into fridge magnets here's something that might interest you, it's the top post as of today - Sunday

http://mscellania.blogspot.com/

Chris said...

Sorry for the lack of comments recently but I've been a tad busy and had a self-imposed limit to blogging which was a 'look but don't touch' approach. Therefore I have been keeping up to date with everyone but keeping very quiet.

It's going to be the same approach to some of the wonderful food that appears on your pages, Welshcakes. Just started to try to lose weight and the trouble is it's so attached to me it doesn't want to go! But this bread....... how am I going to resist?

marymaryquitecontrary said...

I am sure the aroma was wonderful in your kitchen when this was baking. I have a Panasonic breadmaker which I would really recommend. Throw in the ingredients the evening before and you can wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread.

James Higham said...

So it has to be half-smoked, does it?

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Mutley , if I was there I'd come and bloody make one for you! Thanks, Lee. Thanks, CC, on both counts. Hi, jmb. Yes, the aroma was quite something! Hi, Gretchen. Thanks for visiting my blog. Sorry, Lady M. Hope you are feeling better. Thanks, Gleds. I'll try that with R4. I'll have alook at Mscellania too. Ciao, Chris. Nice to have you back. Hi, MM. A breadmakerr would probably cut out the electricity supply here! Now, James, which of us is the more pedantic pedagogue?!

Liz Hinds said...

Cheesy bread: is there anything more heavenly?

I am serously re-starting my diet so must avoid bread and cheese as they are my downfall!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Liz. You're not going to diet on Oct 8th, are you?!

Beyond Survivor said...

Looks good enough to eat!!!!! I can almost smell it. Looks super, must try it out

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

I'm sure you've had it chez moi years ago, Jan. x

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