Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tomato Basil Bread

This recipe for tomato basil bread has been a staple in our family since 2009. 

It makes a delightful accompaniment to a piping hot bowl of soup.   Like this simple sausage & lentil soup.  Or, this busy day soup

If you’re looking for a fun, different bread for this winter season – give this recipe a go. 

Tomato Basil Bread – Adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 tsp. yeast
  • 3/4 C warm water
  • 2 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 T tomato paste
  • 1 T sugar
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes {optional}
  • 1 C bread flour
  • 1 1/4 C whole wheat flour

Directions

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in the base of a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer.  Then, stir in the 2 tsp. basil, 1/4 C parmesan cheese, 2 T tomato paste, 1 T sugar, 1 T olive oil, 1 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes. 

Add in 2 C of flour – the 1 C bread flour, and 1 C of the whole wheat flour.  Stir in enough remaining whole wheat flour to form a stiff dough.  At this point, either knead in the base of your mixer, or on a floured surface.  Knead the dough until smooth & elastic – about 3-5 minutes. 

Place the dough into a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; knead for 1 minute. Shape into a round loaf. Place on a greased baking sheet, or a baking mat. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

With a sharp knife, cut a slash the top of the loaf.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Cool completely before slicing.

15 comments:

  1. Yummy .... going to have to try this soon!

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  2. Yum! This reminds me of the herby bread you make that is also quite delicious...I'll need to make this one soon!

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  3. What kind of yeast do you use?? Dry-active or fresh??

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  4. Do you use dry active yeast or fresh yeast?? This bread sounds amazing and I want to give it a try! Thanks

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  5. Thanks for the compliment on my recipe search. I have been working on it through a website called reciPAGE. They walk you through adding the widgets step by step, and it is really easy. The only bad thing is I have had to go through all my old posts and enter them myself, so I understand all the posts accumulating :) I've been doing it in bits and pieces. Still some from early 2010 and all of 2009 left to go.

    By the way, this bread sounds perfect for soup. Need to try this recipe next time we have some!

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  6. Now I'm not sure if I typed the recipe page in correctly :)

    It's reciPAGE. Sorry for the double comment!

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  7. @ Jaynie -

    Active dry! We buy it in bulk from Costco. I believe it's Fleischmans (sp?).

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  8. Oh yum! This looks delicious. I can't wait to try it out!!

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  9. Looks tasty with some soup or even as a pizza crust!

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  10. Do you think it would work to use the herbs you've used and the tomato paste with a no-knead bread recipe like this: http://savorysweetlife.com/2011/11/faster-and-easier-no-knead-bread/#more-9039

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  11. Made this today and it was awesome .... Thank you!

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  12. Would this work if I dumped everything in my bread maker? Two kids and no time to knead! Thanks in advance!

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  13. So I just went ahead and tried it in the bread machine and I can't compare to the original or anything, but it's yummy! The loaf is pretty small, so I think that next time I'll pull it out a few minutes before the cycle says it's done- our crust was pretty toasted! Thanks so much!

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