A Rose for Christmas
Happy holidays everyone!
This is a take on Guro’s lovely Caucasian Bread [1] – a Christmas version, colored red, with sun-dried tomato pesto
for the filling :^)
There was a lovely round-up of Roses in this post [2] (so many pretty breads featured!, which got me thinking about savory fillings and flavors for this bread).
Here's the recipe for the sun-dried tomato pesto (makes more than you will need for the rose bread):
Place in food processor and process until you have a smooth paste:
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (preserved in oil, but drained)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1/8 to 1/4 cup grated asiago or parmesan cheese
Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 3 drops Tabasco sauce, and 1/2 cup real mayonnaise.
Process again until smooth. Adjust salt to taste. Transfer to bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
The recipe called for a bit more olive oil, but I held back, not wanting to make the pesto too thin (concerned it might run out during proofing and baking).
This is my interpretation of Guro's formula. I kept hydration to 63% as I liked how that worked when making
Julia's rose bread [3], and reduced the yeast as I was going for a longer, overnight fermentation.
I used half of the dough to make the rose, and saved the other half to make something else.
Flour counter; roll dough to 15"x20".
Cover dough with 190g of sun-dried tomato pesto, leaving a clean border (about 1/4").
Roll up from long side; brush flour off of dough as you roll
Cut in half lengthwise (used a serrated knife).
Fold open to expose the layers. Pick up one piece and lay over the second piece, forming an 'X' shape, keeping the cut sides facing up.
Twist the pieces to form one long rope Coil the rope to form the rose
Proof for about one hour. Some of the olive oil might leak out during proofing
Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until 195F internal temperature is reached, turning loaf for even browning or covering with foil to prevent overbrowning, if needed.
a colorful, flavorful crumb! :^)
Thank you, Guro! This was a fun and very delicious bread to make. It had the aroma of a really good pizza,
while it was cooling.
I was regretting not having any fresh oregano to add to either the dough, or the pesto!
Something to look forward to, for next time, although the bread had wonderful flavor as is.
Happy baking everyone!
:^) breadsong
Submitted to YeastSpotting [4] :^)