Sun-Dried Tomato & Pesto Soda Bread

I was asked recently by my Insta friend, @winni_1978 if I had ever made this bread.  While I have been making soda bread for years (see my recipe here) at that point in time, I hadn’t made it using these ingredients.  Always liking to challenge myself, I set to finding a recipe for it and was so happy with how it turned out that I felt I just had to share it here!

There is a beautiful crust on the loaf and it smells, as one of my sons said (and which I had to agree) like a pizza:-)

It is so easy to make (if you’ve ever made soda bread then this will be absolutely no bother to you!) and only takes approximately 30 minutes in the oven which is so much quicker and less trouble than any yeast based bread you’ll ever make!

Another thing which I really liked about baking this bread is that it used up some of the foods which I had lying around in my fridge for the past while – basil pesto, sundried tomatoes in oil, buttermilk, which had been nearing its end date and some Parmesan cheese.

I highly recommend you give it a go – on its own while still slightly warm from the oven with butter or with a hearty bowl of homemade soup….

Ingredients:
450g Plain Flour
½ Teasp Salt
1 Level Teasp Bread Soda (Baking Soda)
80g Sun-dried Tomatoes, in oil
2 Tablspns Basil Pesto
50g Parmesan Cheese, Grated
350 – 400ml Buttermilk

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200ºC, Fan 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4
2. Dust a flat baking tin with flour
3. Sieve flour, salt and bread soda into a large bowl.
4. Remove the tomatoes from the oil and pat dry on some kitchen roll (you possibly could use dried tomatoes for this but as I haven’t made the bread using them, I am unsure of the result).  Chop the tomatoes – not too small.  Add into the bowl with the flour and mix well to combine
5. Add in enough buttermilk to make a soft dough being careful not to leave it too wet
6. Once it has come together, turn out onto a floured surface and with the palm of your hand, flatten out into a 9 inch square

1. Spread with your pesto and then sprinkle over the cheese
2. Finally, roll the dough like a swiss-roll and then carefully transfer it onto your floured tin.  Dust over the top with some flour

1. Cook in the preheated oven for approx 35 minutes or until the bread is lightly golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped
2. Cook on a wire rack and enjoy

Until next time, Bernie xx