I managed to make a great walnut bread! Although in my today’s plans there was another recipe. My sister and I discuss daily about food and recipes, usually before going to sleep. We agreed on making a popular italian sauce: Pesto. When we woke up, this morning, and spoke to our mum we had our Pesto Dream broken. Fresh basil is not available in southern Italy in winter (you must have your own indoor plant and keep it warm at 25 degrees).
From pesto to walnuts bread is a short step. Both recipes require walnuts, both are easy to consume and enjoy. Ok ok, no real connections between bread and pesto, I just had flour and yeast in excess :). Anyway, I surpassed myself, I swear: this bread is a pretty darn good! When you bake it, smell of toasted nuts and rising bread hits the nostrils. It’s the aroma of all the good things of the past which fills spaces and makes memories resurface. So here is my personal recipe for walnut bread.
Before, few tips: walnut bread is delicious, perfect to pair with both savory and sweet dips, jam, butter, nutella and, why not, pesto. Use good quality nuts, I recommend not to buy already shelled walnuts. They taste better, moreover you can finally use the nutcracker. Isn’t fun when the walnuts flee from nutcracker jumping all over the place? I think so.
How to make Walnut Bread (completely handmade!)
- 2 1/2 cup warm water
- yeast (1 fresh yeast or 2 tsp active dry yeast)
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups stoneground bread (strong flour)
- 3 cups whole flour
- about 1 tsp oil or butter for the baking tray and the mnixing bowl
- 300 gr walnuts in pieces
- Dissolve the yeast in the water.
- Put white flour into a bowl and stir in the yeast in water with a fork until no bits are left. At this point the dough is still wet so you can easily use the fork to mix the ingredients.
- Add the 3 cups of whole flour and mix. When the dough is dense enough it is time to put the fork aside and to start kneading. Work the dough by kneading and stretching it until it is smooth. Bear in mind that because of the whole flour, the dough is not going to be completely stretchy but always a bit sticky.
- Shape the dough in a ball and put it into the bowl you have previously oiled. Cover the bowl with a wet tea towel. Let it rest and rise for about an hour (longer if the kitchen is cold).
- Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it again as if you wanted to punch it (physical manipulation brings molecules into contact to form gluten which is responsible for the elasticity of the dough).
- Incorporate the walnuts (in pieces, you decide how big) in the dough. Let it rest again for 1 hour or so covered with the towel.
- Put the dough on your baking tray or in a non-stick loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees.