The Daily Dig

I've been making homemade bread for awhile now but it's not until recently that I started experimenting with stuffed breads...yummy breads with fillings. I wanted to make a bread utilizing some the amazing produce that I see at the farmers market. To make this bread I use the "Master Dough Recipe" from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It's my new bible! They teach you how to make a no-fuss dough that you mix together and store in the refrigerator without kneading and multiple risings. Imagine making fresh bread from your fridge whenever the mood strikes you. Best of all the recipe makes four loaves of bread and only cost about 40 cents each.

I found this recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse in the book and thought Feta cheese would be a nice addition...it's so good that I made it seven times in one week! If you don't want to make the dough from scratch you can use store bought dough. Here's how I made it.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. I use a pizza stone for my bread baking but you can use a cookie sheet too. Place a broiler tray underneath your stone or cookie sheet before pre-heating to use later for a steam bath for your bread...the steam gives your bread a nice crust.

Roll your dough into an oval shape and a little less than a quarter of an inch thick. Make slits with a knife on half of the oval. After some trial and error, I now place parchment paper under the half of the dough that gets the filling. It makes it much easier to bring it to the oven.

I used about 1 1/2 yellow and red bell peppers that I roasted in the broiler and put in a closed container to steam the skins off. After peeling the charred skins I cut them into strips and placed them lengthwise on half of the dough. I have tried this recipe with jarred roasted bell peppers and it turned out great...but try using fresh when available.

I used crumbled herb feta for more flavor. Dampen the dough edge and fold the slitted side over the peppers and feta. Adjust the holes so the ingredients peek through.

Crimp the edges with a fork or pinch to seal.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle some kosher salt on top. Use a pizza peel to transfer, or a cookie sheet turned upside down and slide onto the pre-heated stone or sheet. Pour a cup of water in the broiler tray to make steam in the oven so your bread has a nice crust...stand back because the tray is hot and steam rises. Close the oven quickly to keep the steam inside. Bake for 25 minutes. If your using parchment paper you can slide it out from under the bread after ten minutes of baking to get a good crust on the bottom of the bread.

Place the bread on a cookie rack for 20 minutes to cool off. Elevating the bread will keep it crunchy on the edges and the bottom. If you try to cut it to soon you will make a mess of the bread...the bell pepper and feta will ooze everywhere.

Kitty likes it too!

Try stuffing this bread with carmalized onions, cheese, and kalamata olives or oven roasted tomatoes, cheese, and cooked diced chicken. The possibilities are endless.

Click on the link below to get the "Master Dough Recipe".

www.artisanbreadinfive.com/