Pesto Mozzarella Rolls
Who doesn’t love pesto, cheese & super soft bread?! In this recipe you get to combine all three of those things. I like to make this in the summer with a batch of homemade pesto, but you can make it anytime of year to bring some happiness into your life and tastebuds.
Makes 10-12 rolls.
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 tsp salt
2 ¼ teaspoons (7g) dry active or instant yeast
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons honey or sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs (beaten)
1/4 to 1/2 cup pesto
2-3 cups shredded mozzarella (the more the better!)
Various ways to slice and brush pesto onto the dough.
Dough ball before rising.
In a small bowl or measuring cup mix the yeast, honey & warm milk. Whisk thoroughly and let it sit until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). If you’re using instant yeast, skip the activation step with the warm milk and just mix the yeast straight into the flour. You may still want to dissolve the honey into the warm milk, though.
Meanwhile, whisk together the salt and the flour in a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), followed by adding the melted butter and beaten eggs.
When the yeast mixture is foamy, add it to all the other ingredients and give everything a good mix. You can either knead it using the dough hook & stand mixer, or knead by hand until you have a nice smooth ball.
Let it rise in a lightly oiled bowl (covered) for 1 hour or until doubled.
Gently deflate and turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Work the dough into a rough rectangle shape and then roll it out until it’s about 12x16 inches (or larger if you’d more, thinner rolls).
Spread the pesto all over the dough rectangle followed by the cheese, reserving a little extra cheese for the top later. Now, you can either roll the dough up into a log and cut slices, or you can use a pizza cutter to slice across the dough to form 10-12 strips, rolling each one up individually. To shape rose rolls with “petals” check out my video tutorial on Instagram.
Arrange the rolls (so you can see the swirls facing up) in a lightly oiled 12-inch cast iron pan, or equivalent sized baking pan lined with parchment paper (even a cookie sheet will work in theory!). Preheat the oven to 350F and let the rolls rest for about 15 minutes.
Top the rolls with a little extra cheese, and then bake for about 25-30 minutes (longer depending on your oven and baking vessel), checking the rolls after 25 minutes for doneness. Try to let them cool for a few minutes before digging in (the waiting part is hard!). Enjoy!
I would love to see your creations! Tag @nokneadtoworry on Instagram.
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