RECIPE | Pull-apart garlic and rosemary bread
“A twist on an old favourite, this pull-apart garlic bread can be served as a low-key, yet impressive side dish at a braai, or even act as a beautiful centrepiece on a Sunday lunch table,” says artisan baker Babette Kourelos, owner of Babette's Bread in Joburg.
“It is also a wonderful bread to mop up the beautiful flavours of Greek lamb, groenboontjie bredie or a simple napolitana or bolognese pasta sauce,” she adds. “The garlic and herb filling can easily be replaced with sun-dried tomatoes and feta or olives, if you prefer.”
Makes: 1 bread
Dough:
500g flour
10g salt
350g water
5g yeast
Filling:
60g - 70g butter, softened
Half a head of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced or chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary, strip the leaves from the sprigs
Zest of 1 lemon
Method:
- To make the dough, mix the salt into the flour. (This is important so the yeast doesn't come into direct contact with any salt.)
- Add the yeast, then the water and mix until all the dry flour has disappeared.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for an hour.
- Gently fold back or knead the dough and allow to stand for another hour.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer to a surface that's been lightly dusted with flour. Gently stretch the dough into a rectangle, approximately 20cm x 30cm.
- Spread the softened butter over the dough rectangle and evenly distribute the garlic, rosemary and lemon zest on top.
- Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll. Then cut into 7 or 8 individual rolls.
- Place the rolls next to each other in a cake tin greased with butter as per the photo above. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 - 45 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C - 200°C for 30 - 35 minutes. Serve hot.