Cheesy Pesto Pull Apart Bread with Homemade Cilantro Pesto

Breads are always inviting and perfect to go with some garam chai(hot tea) or for a dinner too.This bread turned out very flavorful with cilantro pesto and blended well with mozarella cheese.A dip in ketchup adds an additional touch to the finished product.Bread making is risky and at times doesn't work well if you kill your yeast in hot water.Initially when I baked breads there had been flaws but gradually with experience I have now gained much better confidence to make them better.The latest trial is by making with wheat flour than relying on all purpose flour alone.In this bread too,I have combined wheat flour and all purpose flour(maida).Pesto is a Italian sauce originating in northern Italy and traditionally consist of crushed garlic,basil leaves and pinenuts blended with olive oil and parmesan cheese.But here in this recipe,the star ingredient is cilantro and not basil.You can use basil too as per original recipe.I have adapted the bread recipe from here (slightly modified)and the cilantro pesto from here.Try and enjoy !!

Ingredients
for bread dough
wheat flour 1 cup
all purpose flour 1/2 cup
yeast 1.5 tsp
salt 1/4 tsp
sugar 1.5 tsp
olive oil 1 tbsp
egg 1(reserve egg white)

for bread filling
cilantro pesto 1/4 cup
shredded mozarella cheese 1 cup

for cilantro pesto
cilantro 1 bunch
garlic clove 2 small
walnuts 1/4 cup
toasted sesame oil 1tbsp
lemon juice 1 tbsp
pepper powder 1/4 tsp
salt 1/4 tsp

Method
FOR BREAD DOUGH

• Combine water,yeast,sugar in a bowl.Let it stand for 10 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl,add flours and salt.Add the yeast mixture,egg,mix well to the dough.
• Gradually add and blend to the flour.Make a dough,slightly sticky dough is alright and add the oil on the dough.Apply oil in a bowl and place the dough in the bowl.Keep covered for an hour or until raised.

 FOR PESTO

• Blend the garlic cloves,walnuts,lemon juice and cilantro chopped.Add in sesame oil,salt and pepper powder.Process until smooth and transfer in a bowl,keep ready.

FOR MAKING BREAD

• Pre heat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Punch down the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface in a rectangle,10*14 ".

• Combine the mozarella and pesto in a bowl,mix well.Spread the filling on the rolled rectangle to within  1/2" of the edge.
• Starting with the long end,roll the loaf tightly.Tuck the ends under and place the loaf on  a parchment paper lined tray.

• Using a sharp knife,cut slits in the loaf,2" apart.Be careful to  cut only 3/4 through the loaf leaving the bottom side intact.
• Brush the top with the reserved egg white liberally.Leave for 20 minutes to rise.
• Place it in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool slightly.Pull out the slit slices and serve with some ketchup or just like that !!

Serves ~ 1 loaf of 12" * 9" or 7-8 pieces of 2" thick

NOTES
* The original recipe makes 2 loaves with double the ingredients,the ingredient listed here gets perfect to make one loaf.
* Using wheat flour for bread baking doesn't double the loaf but raised and soft when pressed down after an hour unlike the all purpose flour(maida) breads.If you aren't confident of baking bread with wheat flour,then use all purpose flour keeping the remaining ingredients same.
* You can add parmesan cheese to the pesto too.I was about to mix the mozarella cheese to the pesto so just omitted that.You can even add a chilli/half of a jalapeno pepper to spice it up.I just avoided as kids may not like it much.
* You can make the same pesto with basil omitting the cilantro and replacing it with basil.

For all other bread recipes,click here.