Hot Italian Pesto Bread Food

BREAD PESTO

Steps:

• In a large bowl, place flour, salt and mix until well combined.
• In a small bowl or jug, mix lukewarm water with yeast and sugar. Let it rest for a couple of minutes until foamy.
• Then pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, add the beating egg and olive oil, and stir with a fork until roughly combined.
• Trasfer the dough onto a work surface, and knead for a couple of minutes until smooth. You might need an extra Tbsp of water, trust your judgment here, but overall the dough should be easily pliable.
• Once you shape the dougn into a ball, place it back into its bowl, cover with a damp cloth (to prevent its surface from drying out) and let it rest in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 1 hour).
• Once the dough is ready, place it onto a large sheet of parchment paper.
• Stretch it out with your fingers into a rectangular shape (about 10 x 12 inches).
• Spread the pesto on half of the rectangle, then lift the other side of the parchment paper and fold the other half of the dough over the one covered with pesto. Gently flatten the rectangle with your fingers.
• Cut the rough edges, than with a pizza cutter cut the rectangle lengthwise into 4 large stripes. At this point, you can cut the 4 stripes crosswise in order to get 8 stripes in total. This will give you 8 smaller rolls rather than 4.
• If you keep the stripes long, wrap the dough around your fingers into a loose knot leaving space in the center. Wrap the left end of the dough up and over the loop. Wrap the right end down and under the loop. Try to squeeze into a nice rounded shape. If you cut the stripes shorter, you can easily shape them into spirals.
• Place each roll on to a bakin pan lined with parchment paper, brush them lightly with some egg wash (to keep them moist), and let them rest for about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 420°F/220°C.
• Before putting the rolls in the hot oven, brush them again with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, and salt flakes if you wish.
• Bake them for about 15-20 minutes until golden.

PESTO GENOVESE (AUTHENTIC ITALIAN BASIL PESTO)

Steps:

• Crush garlic using a mortar and pestle. Add pine nuts; crush with the garlic. Add basil leaves gradually, making circular movements with the pestle, until a smooth paste forms.
• Mix Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and pecorino Romano cheese using a wooden spoon. Stir in olive oil until pesto is blended.

HOT ITALIAN PESTO BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spread the pesto on to 1 side of the sliced bread and spread the garlic cloves onto the other side. Place the halves together to close. Place in oven for 15 minutes.
• Slice and serve.

LAYERED ITALIAN DIP

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Mix cream cheese and Parmesan until blended; spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
• Top with layers of remaining ingredients.
• Bake 15 min. or until heated through.

PESTO PULL-APART BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Combine olive oil and pesto. Dip biscuit pieces into pesto mixture until coated; place in an 8-inch round baking pan. Top with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and ripe olives., Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; return to oven, and bake until melted, about 5 minutes longer. Cut into wedges or pull apart; serve warm, with additional pesto if desired.

PESTO GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

Steps:

• Spread one side of a slice of bread with butter, and place it, buttered side down, into a nonstick skillet over medium heat.
• Spread the top of the bread slice in the skillet with half the pesto sauce, and place a slice of provolone cheese, the tomato slices, and the slice of American cheese onto the pesto.
• Spread remaining pesto sauce on one side of the second slice of bread, and place the bread slice, pesto side down, onto the sandwich. Butter the top side of the sandwich.
• Gently fry the sandwich, flipping once, until both sides of the bread are golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes per side.