Hey Pesto!

We had a BBQ for dinner. Nothing fancy, just steak for Hubby and I and some sausages for the kids and salad to go with it but I decided to have a go at some fancy schmancy bread to liven things up a bit. It was really tasty - the bread was light (I added a little extra water and was glad I did so), the pesto was yummy and I was pleased with the end result. You'll notice that it didn't get really brown after it was cooked, that's because I cooked it in the microwave and while it does cook things well and browns them somewhat it doesn't achieve the same level of 'browning' as an oven. Anyway, for your approval I present...

Pesto Swirl Bread
The Bread Machine Book by Marjie Lambert

For a 675g (1½ lb) loaf
175ml water (I added an extra 50ml)
90ml milk
1½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1½ tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
400g bread flour
165g wholewheat flour
1 tablespoon yeast
6 tablespoons pesto (I used sundried tomato pesto from a jar)

Put all ingredients except pesto in bread tin in order suggested by your bread machine instructions. Set for wholewheat bread, dough stage (or like mine, just dough). Press start.

Butter a 24cm loaf pan.

Remove dough from bread machine and punch down. Let rest for 5 minutes. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to form a rectangle about 20cm wide and 40cm long. Spread pesto evenly over surface. Roll the dough into a fat, 20cm cylinder. Tucking the edge under, put it in the loaf tin. Loosely cover and put in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

Bake the loaf in a preheated 180˚C oven until top is golden an a skewer inserted in the bread comes out clean, 30-35minutes. Remove the bread from the tin and put it on a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.