If you've always wanted to make your own bread, try this Italian recipe for a delicious Gorgonzola and Walnut Loaf.
Homemade Italian bread is delicious and surprisingly easy to make. This recipe for Gorgonzola and Walnut Bread shows you how to make the loaf in a bread machine, but also explains how you can make it by hand, in the traditional way. It appears in From Seed to Plate, by Paolo Arrigo (pub. Simon and Schuster £20); this is a lovely new cookbook from Seeds of Italy, the company that supplies Franchi seeds. The recipe appears here with permission.
Gorgonzola and Walnut Bread – Recipe
Pane di Noci e Gorgonzola
Ingredients
- 300g strong white bread flour
- 170g strong brown bread flour
- 30g semolina
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 sachet (9g) yeast (check this, some brands of yeast are only 7g - you need 9g)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 250ml water
- 50g chopped walnuts (or to taste)
- 80g Gorgonzola cheese
- 1 slice of mortadella, chopped
Method
- If you’re using a bread machine, put all the ingredients into your machine except the walnuts, Gorgonzola and mortadella, which you will add when your machine beeps (when the dough ball has been made and kneaded), so that they don’t get completely crushed into the bread. Select the 750g loaf setting and ‘thick crust’, if your machine has it, and off you go.
- You could, if you like, use the dough-making setting and make the dough in the machine. Then place the dough on an oiled and floured baking tray in the shape that you like (a ball would be best) and cover loosely with a damp tea towel until it has doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until medium brown and hollow sounding when tapped underneath.
How To Make the Bread By Hand
- Mix all the dry ingredients except the walnuts, Gorgonzola and mortadella. Place the flour mixture on the table and make a well in the centre.
- Pour in the oil and water and start mixing from the inside out until you have a dough ball. You will have to knead the dough for at least 10 minutes to give the dough the elasticity it needs to rise and bake properly.
- Add the remaining ingredients and knead them into your dough for a further 2-3 minutes. You can test this elasticity by taking a piece of the dough and slowly stretching it in all directions: it shouldn’t snap or break into holes.
- Place the dough on a greased and floured baking tray, cover with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours, until it has doubled in size. You could put it in a cold oven or microwave or in the airing cupboard, but the important thing is not to leave it in a draught, as this will affect how it rises.
- Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7/220°C. Uncover the dough, dust with a little flour and put in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until it is medium brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
Try this recipe for Roasted Vegetable Frittata
The copyright of the article Homemade Gorgonzola and Walnut Bread in Italian Baking is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Homemade Gorgonzola and Walnut Bread in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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