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Roasted Tomato and Herb Bread
One thing to come out of quarantine was my deep love of baking bread and where I didn’t think it would continue this long, I’m getting creative with the bread that is coming out of the oven and into our bellies.
Hubs has a great garden with a never-ending supply of tomatoes, which means we have a hard time keeping up with all the fresh tomatoes before they get past their “prime.” And, thanks to all the rain, we also have a plethora of fresh herbs.
We had a huge tray of tomatoes, onions, and garlic in the oven so we could make marinara and this idea popped in my head - What if I made roasted tomato bread instead?!
This was a notion I had to act on and holy smokes… it might be the best bread I’ve made to date! It is so easy, relatively foolproof, and uses ingredients that are pantry staples.
Roasted Tomato and Herb Bread
Ingredients
1 ½ cups tomatoes
½ onion
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp EVOO
2 ¼ tsp (or 1 packet) yeast
¾ cup warm water
2 Tbsp honey
3 ½ cup King Arthur bread flour
2 tsp salt
Handful of fresh herbs - oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary chopped
Roast the tomatoes, onions, garlic for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Once cooled, puree until smooth
In a small bowl, combine water, honey, EVOO, and yeast and let sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast looks foamy
While the yeast activates, stir together flour and salt in a stand mixer and create a well. Pour in the tomato mixture, and mix on a low setting using the dough hook.
Pour in yeast mixture and herbs and mix until a dough ball forms.
Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and place in a warm, dry place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled. (Tip: I like to put my dough in the oven to rise. This is a more temperature controlled environment and using the oven light creates a warmer setting for the dough to rise)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Roll out into a rectangle, approximately 9”x12”. Starting on one of the shorter ends, carefully roll the dough like a jelly roll.
Place dough into a lightly greased bread pan (a nonstick 9x5 works best) and cover. Let rise for another additional 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Once dough has risen, place in oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap your fingers on it.
Carefully turn the bread out of the pan onto a cooling rack and ENJOY!
We cannot get enough of this bread and it works really well for a variety of sandwiches:
Classic BLT with a fried egg
Panera Bread Copycat Mediterranean sandwich - layer hummus, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and feta (or goat cheese), with greens
Chicken salad