flower pot bread

This is probably my favorite bread-dinner. It's like a calzone, but inside a flower pot. It's beautiful to serve at the dinner table, fresh out of the oven.

Roll out the dough and put the goodies inside.

 

Press the cherry tomatoes onto the dough.

 

Close into a round package by folding in.

 

Put into the pot.

 

Repeat with the rest.

 

Bake until the top is brown

 

and the inside is bubbling.

 

As you cut it open you will find a surprise in the bread!

Technique inspired by Jamie Oliver.

________________________________________

Tools

Ceramic flower pots.

Ingredients

For dough:

4 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (if you use all-purpose flour, omit the olive oil)

1 3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 cup olive oil

1 3/4 cups water

Cornmeal for dusting

For filling (use finer ingredients if possible - you can pick whatever you want here, really):

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Cherry tomatoes (squash them onto the dough)

Sun-dried tomatoes

Prosciutto

Arugula

Olive oil

Salt + freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Put the flour on a counter and make a hole in the middle, like a volcano.

Throw in the salt and yeast. Put the water and oil in the middle and start stirring with a fork, incorporating more and more flour every time. Finish off by kneading until you get a silky, uniform dough (5 minutes).

Divide the dough into six (for my size pot, less for larger pots).

With a rolling pin, stretch out each piece as if making pizza.

Now fill up the bread. Tear the mozzarella and put it on the dough, squash the tomatoes onto the dough, add some parmesan, add the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Fold in the sides to create a round package, and flip it over. Put it in one of the well-floured ceramic pots. Do this for the rest of the pots.

Let the breads rise (covered by a towel) for an hour while the oven is preheated at 450 degrees Farenheit.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is brown. Let cool and serve. You can either take the bread out and serve it, or just leave it in the pot.