Friday, October 27, 2017

Sweet-chilli pull-apart

At the sourdough workshop on Saturday, I made a Sweet-chilli pull-apart, for tasting. I'd love to have demonstrated it, but 2 hours wasn't nearly long enough. People may have burned their mouths, on the hot capsicum, after it came out of the oven. So I promised to write a tutorial, on how to make it.

First, start with your basic white sourdough recipe, found here. Once the dough has adequate time to double in size, you're ready to start preparing the pull-apart loaf. It's called a Pull-apart (also known as a Peasant loaf) because the way it's cut and shaped, makes it easier to pull apart by hand. For this reason, it's a great savoury, to take on a picnic or road-trip.


Ready to begin


Remove your ball of dough from the bowl, and give it a light knead. Then reshape the ball, again.


Split


Using the largest, sharpest knife you have, cut the ball into, two separate, but equal pieces. This will make two loaves.


Flatten


Using a rolling pin, flatten to approximately 30cms long, and 25cms wide. It should be approximately 5-6mm thick. It needs to fit on a large baking tray.

Time to add the filling...

Ingredients:

  • sweet-chill jam
  • dried garlic flakes
  • 1/2 red, & 1/2 green capsicum (thinly sliced)
  • sliced salami (omit if you want vegetarian)
  • grated mozzarella

A mix of red, green and gold, roasted capsicum



Spread the base with Sweet-Chilli Jam (if you cannot make your own, buy a suitable replacement) then sprinkle with garlic flakes. Layer capsicum onto dough. I used roasted capsicum I made previously, for the loaf above, but used fresh capsicum for the workshop tasting. Both are suitable. Just be sure to drain liquid off, if roasted and contained in oil.


Vegetarian filling


Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Not too heavy, or too light. Just enough to cover the base. You can add the salami now, if you're going to use it.


 Omnivore filling


Once all the fillings are down, you'll appreciate why we didn't go too heavy on the cheese. Because now comes the slightly tricky part...


Roll


Using a scraper, or suitable spatula with a fine edge, tease dough from counter, and gradually roll-up like a swiss roll. Work your way up, the length of the sausage with your scraper, then roll, and repeat. Until you reach the end. Don't try this, if your dough has over-proved or otherwise, too sticky. You'll have a fine mess on your hands!

So make sure, if you're going to make this loaf, your dough is, "just right".


Seam down


Place your roll onto a baking tray, lined with parchment paper. Make sure the seam is facing downwards. Then find the biggest, most sturdy pair of scissors you have in the house, and...


Cut


Cut into the roll, on an angle, approximately every inch. You'll need to cut all the way through, except for a small section, on the base. You should get 7-8 segments, to a roll.


Separate


Then nudge each segment out, alternate to the adjoining one, like a fan. These are your pull-apart segments, that will bake into one loaf, at the end.


Bunch together


Final step is to nudge the segments closer together, so they're laying on top of one another. Gently start at one end, pushing segments closer to the centre. Repeat from the other end. Your pull-apart segments should be bunched up, but not spilling the filling.

Now prove in your oven, set to 50 degrees Cecilius, with a shallow bowl of water at the base - anywhere from 50-60 minutes. It should double in size.


Extra cheese


Remove from oven, and sprinkle liberally with more mozzarella cheese. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180-200, fan-forced (200-220 conventional oven, or gas mark 6-7). When fully heated, place back into oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn tray, half way through baking.

It's ready to come out, when it's a consistent, golden brown colour. If it's pale on the edges (near the base) you'll want to bake 5-10 minutes more.


Finished ~ click to enlarge


Slide onto a cooling rack, as soon as you get it out of the oven. It should slide easily, off the parchment paper. The hard part is waiting 30 minutes to an hour, before eating. As you don't want to scold your mouth on hot capsicum.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment at the end.

Enjoy!


14 comments:

  1. Thanks for that tutorial, Chris. Now I just need to find the right pair of scissors :-)

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  2. Dress making scissors are good - if retiring a spare pair!

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  3. Looks really delicious, I love sweet chilli everything! Meg:)

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    1. Yes, sweet chilli is just the right blend of spicy and sweet, without the fire! When I was younger, I loved eating hot potatoes wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli. Better than gravy!

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  4. Replies
    1. The flavour is amazing. I think you'll enjoy it.

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  5. Waiting for it too cool enough to eat would be the hard part. It looks just soooo delicious.

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    1. Smells delicious too. Thanks for popping by. :)

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  6. Thank you Chris, I made the Sunflower Honey loaf last week and it didn't last long.
    I even used some for toasted croutons in a Ceaser salad, worked well.
    I will give the pull apart a trial run this week as next month I want to take a couple to a Christmas do.
    Hope you didn't get too much hail damage at your place.

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    1. Great idea for making croutons. The sunflower seeds are delicious, toasted or otherwise. I think the pull-aparts will be a hit over Christmas, when you make them. The hail was small here, but still damaged some plants in the garden. But I know we got off lucky. Other places had much larger hail.

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  7. Wow that looks delicious Chris!

    I will be definitely be giving this a try, must be time I tried something different than just ordinary sourdough loaves. I will be making another batch in a minute to leave sit overnight :)

    Thank you for sharing,

    xTania

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  8. I don't think you'll regret making it Tania. The hard part will be stopping yourself from eating it all, in one sitting, lol.

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  9. Looks yummy! So glad you had to post the recipe!

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    1. You're welcome, Leigh. Pull-aparts are a handy way to bake, if you need something substantial to eat away from home. Maybe Dan could have them on the road, when he's traveling. :)

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