Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread
With an intense tomato flavour and background notes of cheese, herbs, and garlic, this bread is perfect for tearing into chunks to dip into olive oil and Balsamic vinegar, but equally good alongside soups, salads, or made into sandwiches. After a couple of days, it makes sensational cheese and tomato on toast, or a great base for bruschetta.
Made with an easy, no-knead, overnight method and baked in covered pot or Dutch oven, it's a great textured, flavoursome loaf.
It's recommended that you read the accompanying blog post before beginning the recipe.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 6 cloves garlic (peeled, thinly sliced)
- 130 g sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (drained weight)
- 600 g white bread flour
- 2 tsp instant dried yeast (see Recipe Note 1)
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp Italian-style dried herb mix (see Recipe Note 2)
- 1 tbsp oil from jar of sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil)
- 400 - 460 ml/g water (from the tap: doesn't need to be warm)
- Polenta for dusting (or use more white bread flour)
- 200 g mature Cheddar cheese (coarsely grated, divided 150g/50g)
Instructions
The day before you bake the bread
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Put the garlic slices in a small saucepan and cover with boiling water from a kettle. Simmer for 3 minutes then drain and leave to cool.
Tip: for a stronger flavour, add the garlic raw at Step 3 instead of cooking it.
Chop the garlic finely or cut into julienne strips.
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Drain the sun-dried tomatoes in a sieve over a jug: reserve 1 tbsp of the oil for the recipe.
Roughly chop the tomatoes.
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In a large mixing bowl, stir together the bread flour, instant dried yeast, salt, and dried herbs.
Stir in the prepared garlic and sun-dried tomatoes.
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Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the reserved tablespoon of oil from the tomatoes.
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Gradually pour in approximately 400ml of the water, stirring as you do, to start bringing the ingredients together.
Add more water as needed to form a wettish but not sloppy dough (see image in blog post for how it should look), stirring well so there are no dry bits of flour.
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Cover the dough and leave overnight or 12 - 14 hours.
Tip: If the room is warm, or if you'd like a longer rise for convenience or to allow more flavour to develop, you can put the dough in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough back up to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
On the day of baking
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The dough should have risen, spread out and be very bubbly. If not, leave a little longer.
Dust your work surface with polenta or bread flour and scrape the dough onto it.
Fold over itself several times until it comes together into a smooth dough. Add more polenta or flour if needed to prevent sticking to the work surface.
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Sprinkle a generous layer of polenta or flour inside a proving basket or tea towel-lined bowl.
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Flatten the dough and scatter over HALF of the 150 g of cheese.
Fold over the sides of the dough to cover the cheese, then keep folding until the cheese is partly distributed then pat out again and repeat with the remaining half of cheese. To stop it sticking, add more polenta or flour as needed.
Shape the dough to fit your proving basket or bowl and put it inside with the rounded side facing DOWN.
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Cover with cling film or place in a large reusable polythene bag and leave in a warm place for approximately 30 - 45 minutes.
While it's proving:
- preheat your oven to its highest setting and put a lidded cast iron pot or Dutch oven on the middle shelf.
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Check if the dough is ready to bake: gently insert a finger into the dough and see if the dough quickly or slowly springs back.
- If the dough springs back slowly and leaves an impression, it's ready.
- If it springs back immediately and doesn't leave an impression then prove another 5 - 10 minutes and check again.
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When ready to bake, remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid.
Sprinkle a layer of polenta or flour over the base of the pot, then carefully flip in the dough so the rounded side is now facing UP.
Scatter over the remaining 50 g of grated cheese, then cut a deep cross on top of the dough.
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Put the lid back on, place the pot in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 240°C / 220° Fan / Gas 9 / 475 F
Bake for 35 minutes without removing the lid.
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After 35 minutes, reduce the heat to 220° C / 200° Fan / Gas 7 / 425°F.
Remove the pot from the oven, tip the bread out of it, then return the loaf to sit directly on the oven shelf.
Tip: if the bread resists coming out of the pot (melted cheese can sometimes make it stick) then leave it in and try again when it's baked another 5 minutes or so.
Bake on the shelf for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until the bread is cooked through: it should sound hollow when tapped underneath.
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Place on a wire rack until completely cold before slicing or cutting into chunks.
Best eaten within 2-3 days or can be frozen.
Tip: slice or cut before freezing so you can take out just as much as you need without wastage.
Recipe Notes
Note 1. Instant Dried Yeast. For the method in this recipe, you should use dried yeast that does not need activating before adding to the rest of the ingredients. It's usually labelled 'fast-acting', 'instant' or similar.
Note 2. If you want to make your own blend of dried herbs, try my Italian-Style Seasoning recipe. Alternatively, replace with 2 tsp dried oregano.
Equipment.
- You'll need a heavy, lidded pot or Dutch oven in which to bake the bread. It should have a capacity of at least 3.5 litres.
- To support the dough on its second rise or proof, you'll need a banneton/proving basket or a large bowl lined with a tea towel or other cloth.
- The no-knead dough is wetter than normal so a dough scraper is recommended for removing it from the bowl and for folding/shaping it.