Pesto Bread

Pesto, which originated in Genoa, Italy, comes from the Italian word "pestare" that means to pound. The traditional pesto is composed of basil, pine nuts, garlic, cheese and olive oil pounded into a paste.

Pesto can be made at home with a mortar or blender, esp. if you have an allotment garden (Schrebergarten is very popular in Germany) full of various herbs, like basil, coriander, parsley, mint, chive, or spinach etc. etc. There is pasta with pesto, pesto on pizza, pesto sauce for seafood, pesto vinaigrette for salads, pesto marinade for the grill, red bean pesto, cilantro pesto, and I used Sun-dried tomato pesto for this bread.

• 240 ml Lukewarm water
  
  
• 1 tbsp Sugar
  
  
• 15 g Fresh yeastangiesrecipes
  
  
• 250 g All-purpose flour
  
  
• 250 g Whole wheat flourangiesrecipes
  
  
• 1 tsp Salt
  
  
• 80 g Pesto rossoangiesrecipes (I used red pesto made of sun-dried tomato)
  
  
• 1 tsp Olive oil

1. Place the yeast in a bowl and pour the warm water over. Stir in the sugar to dissolve. Let stand for 15 minutes. The mixture should look bubbly. Combine and sift the flours and salt in your mixer bowl and turn mixer on to lowest speed. Add in pesto and the yeast mixture. Keep stirring until you have a dough that holds together and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Adjust the amount of water, adding more or less as is needed.
   
   
2. Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Grease the bowl with a teaspoon of olive oil and return the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Set the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to double in volume, about 45 minutes.
   
   
3. Grease a large loaf pan and lightly dust with a bit of flour. Punch down the risen dough and knead for 5 minutes. Shape into an oblong loaf and place it in the prepared pan. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Once the dough has doubled in size, make a deep incision on the top of the loaf with a sharp razor blade.
   
   
4. Bake at 200C/400F in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F and bake for another 50 minutes until golden and crusty. Cool the loaf in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes and remove from the pan to cool completely.