Lovely pictures and enticing recipe. I am always inspired to eat your savoury breads 🙂





Burst of flavours is assured with every bite into this russian braided pesto bread which is a very soft savoury bread and is easily baked at home.
It is been a while since I baked a loaf of bread. The main reason being the kids are away on work and we both are off gluten. But I love baking bread. It is therapeutic. So when Sonia gupta suggested we the theme of braided bread for bread bakers. I realised I had not baked with them for a very long time now and I had to get baking to baking bread. But then what would I do with the baked bread if I cannot enjoy it? Well, when I have friends who do not mind tasting it, I have every reason to bake it. Then the next question was would I bake a sweet or a savoury bread? Vibha always likes a savoury bread and though she is not here, I baked this Russian braided pesto bread, so that one day she will see this, gets inspired and bake herself.
I wonder why this braid is called as Russian? Did it have its origin in Russia? I am not sure but I love this braid. The way the fillings slightly gets exposed and look of the filling trying to peep out makes me smile every time I make such a braid. While I was braiding this bread, I have decided that my next bake will be a sweet one. We can customise this bread in many ways. If we want to be off refined flour, then we can bake it with whole wheat flour. Have a sweet tooth, then make a sweet filling, chocoholic then make a chocolate filling, the options are many. Though the braiding might sound difficult, I have shown the step by step braiding in my earlier bread here. Please have a look at Twisted spring onion swirl bread for the easy braiding pictures. The pesto that I have used here is cashew coriander pesto and I love this pesto than the one which uses basil. But again you can vary the pesto which you are using in this bread.
In the recipe, I have mentioned that it took me only around 40 minutes for the dough to double. The time taken for the second rise is even more less. This is because I stay at the place where it is quite hot in summer. So your proving time may actually vary according to the temperature at the place where you reside. So instead of just looking at the time, go by the rise of the dough. Check when it nearly goes double and continues with the instructions as given in the recipe
The breads that I have baked for #Breadbakers are
1
Done
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FOR THE BREAD DOUGHAdd the flour, salt, sugar, yeast to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix for 1 minute |
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Now, slowly add water and keep mixing. |
3
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Add the oil and keep mixing till all the flour comes togther |
4
Done
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Now run the stand mixer in SPEED1 for 7 MINUTES |
5
Done
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Take out the dough from the stand mixer and keep it in a well-oiled bowl. Cover it well and let it rise in the bowl for 1 hr for it to double in volume. In summer it might take only 40 minutes or so. |
6
Done
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TO PREPARE THE FILLINGIn the meantime grind all the ingredients mentioned in the filling with minimum water that is necessary.Keep it aside |
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Done
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FOR THE BRAIDED BREADOnce the dough has risen, take it out. Punch it down a little, roll in into a rectangle as thin as possible |
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Spread the pesto filling all over leaving 1/2" on all sides |
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Now start rolling from the long side into a tight role |
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Make a slit in the center along the the length through all layers |
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Now braided it with the exposed side facing up |
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Now make it into a circular shape and transfer it to a baking tray lined with parchment paper |
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Done
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Cover it loosely and let it double again. It took me 30 minutes for the braid to double |
14
Done
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PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 200CBrush the braid with milk |
15
Done
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Bake the bread at 200C for 20-25 minutes. You will see that the bread is becoming brown on the surface and will sound hollow when tapped |
16
Done
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Transfer it to a cooling rack. Cut and serve and enjoy the flavours of this soft home baked bread |
The theme for this month is “Braided Bread”. Our host of the month is Sonia Gupta at AnyBodyCanBake. Check out what the Bread Bakers have baked up.
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.
You can leave me an answer, a comment or a suggestion.
Lovely pictures and enticing recipe. I am always inspired to eat your savoury breads 🙂
Veena, thanks to you, we really enjoyed every single bite of it. I must thank Vibha as well for liking savory bread and making you bake it..lol..pls bake more often!
Lovely pictures and enticing recipe. I am always inspired to eat your savoury breads 🙂
Veena, thanks to you, we really enjoyed every single bite of it. I must thank Vibha as well for liking savory bread and making you bake it..lol..pls bake more often!