A 16 legged Octopus?

NOTE: I am not trying to say this is my recipe. If you watch it then you will of course know this is the recipe that Richard did during bread week on the Great British Bake Off. I just really wanted to give it a go and thought I would share my thoughts/pictures and mistakes.

For the dough

• 500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 10g table salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 10g fast-action yeast
• 30g unsalted butter
• 2 large free-range eggs, beaten
• 50ml semi-skimmed milk
• olive oil, for greasing

For the filling

• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced into strips
• ⅓ medium butternut squash, cut into strips
• olive oil, for drizzling
• 100g feta
• 50g shelled walnuts, broken into small pieces

For the pesto

• 50g pine nuts
• 50g parmesan
• 150ml olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• Bunch of basil

For the topping

• 1 large free-range egg
• 10g pine nuts
• flaked sea salt, to taste
• cracked black pepper, to taste
  
  
  
  To make the dough, put the bread flour in a large bowl. Add the salt, sugar, yeast, butter, beaten eggs, milk and 25ml warm water. Mix until combined. Add up to another 100ml warm water, mixing between additions until you have a soft dough.
  
  Lightly flour a work surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.
  
  
  

Lightly oil a large bowl and add the dough. Cover with cling film and set aside to prove for about an hour.

For the filling, preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Put the onion, pepper and butternut squash onto baking trays, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until tender. REMEMBER: Onions make you cry, don't let it distract you or you will slice a chunk out of your finger and it hurts.

Pesto: Heat a small, dry frying pan over a low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until lightly browned. Add the pine nuts and all the remaining pesto ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth. I personally only think you need to make half this mixture as it is very garlic-y and can be overpowering.

To finish the bread, knock back the proved dough by kneading it for 20 seconds, then cut it into two. Wrap half in oiled cling film and set aside.

On a floured work surface, roll the remaining half of dough into a circle with diameter of approximately 30cm. Let the dough rest for a few five minutes – it will shrink back. Roll it out again to a diameter of approximately 32cm and place on a large, greased baking tray. (As you can see below, it doesn't need to be perfect. I also added a sprinkling of semolina on the tray to help stop the bread getting a soggy bottom)

Spread three tablespoons of pesto over the dough and pile the roasted vegetables, feta and walnuts over the top in layers, making the layers slightly deeper in the centre (When i made this, the recipe said: 'Pile the roast vegetables, feta and walnuts in the centre measuring roughly 10cm wide and 8cm high'. Apparently they realised this was stupid and changed it, which is what I realised at the next step) This will form the base of the bread.

Roll out the remaining dough as in step 8. This will make the top layer. (I think a light spreading of pesto is required to sit on top of the veg.)

Brush the edges of the base with a little water and carefully lift the top layer onto the base.

Use a sharp knife to trim the dough into a neat circle (approximately 30cm/12in diameter) (Don't bother, unless you feel particularly inclined to do so). Place a small bowl over the filling in the centre. (The size of the bowl depends on how long you want your twists to be) Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 equally-sized strips radiating from the bowl. Twist each strip twice and cut the ends into points (Again, don't bother). Press the end of each strip onto the baking sheet to stop them unravelling while they prove. Set aside to prove for about 30 minutes. (I just placed inside a plastic bag because it seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, I have a dog and she may have taken her 
chances and stolen it from the side)

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

For the topping, brush the top of the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle the pine nuts, salt and pepper in the centre (I crushed the pine nuts, salt and pepper together and sprinkled across the whole lot). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown. Check after 15 minutes and cover the twists with aluminium foil if they are browning too quickly. Allow to cool before serving. (Why would you do that. It tastes so much better hot from the oven.)

I would love to see pictures if you try this recipe. Tweet me at @strawbteacake. 

Enjoy!

xoxo