Hey Everyone! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you will know how much I love to bake bread! Because what’s better than homemade bread?! Not much. This bread is infused with the most delicious flavors and scents thanks to the pesto and the Parmesan cheese, and smells so incredibly good as it’s baking! It would make a great side to a big pasta dish, soup or salad, but would also be super delicious for a grilled cheese sandwich (with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese?? Yes.) or a Croque Monsieur (like this one)! Make sure you visit Truffle Nation for tip as well as course on how to make your bread that much better! The possibilities are endless, and this bread is seriously one of my favorites! There’s just nothing like the garlic, herbs and cheese all perfuming this crusty loaf of bread, it’ll instantly make you feel like your kitchen has transformed itself into a little Italian bakery!
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NO-KNEAD PESTO BREAD
(Adapted from The NY Times)
*Makes 1 round loaf*
YOU WILL NEED
3 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 5/8 cup water
2 tsp salt
4 – 5 tbs pesto
Optional: 2 – 3 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
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DIRECTIONS
1. Combine the all-purpose flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add in all the water and the pesto (and Parmesan cheese if you are adding it), and stir with a wooden spoon until a super sticky dough begins to form (if the dough seems way too wet, add in extra flour). Then, cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot for 12 – 20 hours.
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2. Check on the dough once the 12 hours or however many hours you are letting it sit are up, and you should be seeing lots of bubbles on its surface. Take the (very sticky at this point!) dough out of the bowl and place it on a generously floured surface and gently try to shape it a little bit, and sprinkle more flour over it. Then, place the piece of plastic wrap over it again and let it rest for 15 minutes.
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3. Next, form the dough into a ball (you can use more flour if you need to) and place it on a floured cloth kitchen towel (make sure it’s seam down), then sprinkle the bread generously with more flour (the dough will absorb a lot of the flour as it sits) and cover it with another towel, and let it sit and rise for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
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4. Preheat your oven to 450 deg F, and place a Dutch oven or covered casserole dish inside it as it heats up (if you use a covered casserole dish, make sure it’s at least a 3 quart dish). Once the oven is ready, remove the dish from the oven, and carefully place your dough ball inside it and cover it with the lid. Bake for about 30 minutes covered, then take the lid off and bake for another 15 – 30 minutes, until golden brown on top! Let the bread rest and cool before slicing.
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For more bread recipes, check these out!
The NY Times No-Knead Bread (left), Homemade French Bread (middle), Classic White Bread (right)
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Happy Baking, Everyone!
I will be linking to THESE wonderful blogs!
This looks and sounds very delicious, so I am pinning it and making it for dinner tomorrow…. Wow! Thanks for sharing!!! 🙂
x Crystelle
Crystelle Boutique
Thanks, Crystelle! I hope you love this bread as much as I do! Enjoy!
The pesto bread is beautiful. Just double checking…is 2 teaspoons of salt right. That seems like a LOT for 3 cups of flour.
Thanks! Yes, I use 2 tsp of salt, but feel free to reduce the amount to suit your taste! Hope you love the bread!
Looks and sounds fantastic!
Thanks, Yalanda! I’ve made so many different variations of this bread, and I think this may be my favorite! Although it’s hard to pick a favorite when it comes to bread 😉
I have got to try this! It looks so good!
Chris
somuchathome.blogspot.com
Thanks, Chris! I hope you enjoy this bread too, it’s one of my absolute favorites, and it’s so easy to make! Which makes it even better! 😉
Hi, Maria! I recently made a no-knead bread for the first time and I was so pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out (and how easy it was!). Mine was just a honey whole wheat…this looks delicious and full of flavor! My kids LOVE anything with pesto in it, so this is a must-try. Pinned!
Hi Blair! Isn’t it the best?! I love how easy it is too, I always make it in the evening, let it sit all night and then bake it off in the morning! There’s nothing like that homemade bread smell… they need to make a bread scented candle! I need one for my kitchen for the days I’m not baking bread! 😉 Honey whole wheat sounds delicious too!
OMG this looks amazing. I am seriously addicted to bread! I gotta try this 🙂
I would love for you to share this at my T.G.I.F. Linky Party @ MamasBlogCentral.com 🙂 Have a great weekend!!
Thanks so much, Wendy!
Delicious bread!!
Thanks, Jennifer!
I love any bread, but add pesto?! ~swoon~ Pinned!
Thanks so much, Patti!
wow sounds so delish! Can’t wait to make it, taste it, love it! If you haven’t would be glad if you would stop by our Snickerdoodle Sunday and share 🙂 http://2crochethooks.com/snickerdoodle-sunday-with-bobbi-from-3glol/
Thanks so much!
Maria, soooooo amazing! This is a keeper. I love love love pesto and bread!!! Thanks for sharing at THE SCOOP. Pinning and featuring your bread on facebook!
Thank you so much, Yvonne!
I just love your Pesto Bread, and can’t wait to make this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Thank you so much, Miz Helen!
Yum! I love pesto!!! I need to make this! Thanks for sharing. I will be featuring you today!
Thank you so much, Rachel!
This bread looks bakery shop perfect. I love pesto, and who doesn’t love freshly baked bread? Thanks, I’m trying this!
Thank you so much, Pattie, I hope you enjoy it too! 🙂
Mmm I just put the dough together and can’t wait to eat it tomorrow! I put in the park, and a handful of mozzarella too!
I’ve made this bread SO many times and also substituted different spices (rosemary my fav!) In response to the salt Comment where 2 tsp. Is too much..salt is what browns any dough recipe (bread, Pizza etc) so you need salt HOWEVER if you use sea salt, kosher salt or the BEST bet is Himalayan Pink Salt you can cut the salt in half still get the brown crust and better for you. The Himalayan Pink Salt also has about a DOZEN health benefits (including lowering blood sugar ) that you just can’t help but only cook with this salt! Thank you for this I love this recipe!
Hi Shanti! Glad you like the recipe, I love it too! The pesto variation is one of my favorites, it smells SO good as it bakes! And it’s perfect with salads & pastas! Rosemary sounds so good in this too, that’s a great idea, I’ve been thinking of other variations I could make, I’ll have to try that next time 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
Oh, so pinning this to my Bread board, this sounds heavenly! I can just about taste it, all warm with some fresh butter spread on it. YUM!
Thanks so much, Chloe! This is one of my favorite variations of the no-knead bread recipe. It smells so good as it bakes! Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a great weekend!