
Let’s have some fun. It’s easy to make a basic bread and add basil and that’s okay. Fresh basil is a wonderful herb but if it’s winter and fresh basil is not available, fear not. Just add more dried basil and we’ll tell you how much. But there’s another possibility:
I’ve added some chopped tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to this bread recipe with either fresh or dried basil and it has the flavor profile of a pizza Margherita or a classic New York style pizza. For the record, this is not about making a pizza dough but a traditional white bread loaf with some pizza ingredients.
You can go the simpler route and just add dried basil or fresh basil as indicated, but we’ll give you some additions in the INGREDIENTS list you might want to consider as an experiment.
Put the ingredients into the bread pan as indicated in the INGREDIENTS list and select the basic or white course, 2-pound loaf, medium crust.
If the dough looks a little loose because of the added tomatoes, add some flour a tablespoon at a time during the kneading course to get the right consistency. You can also sprinkle some basil on top of the loaf before the rising cycle begins.
When the loaf is done remove it from the bread pan and let it rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Great to eat on its own and wonderful with a pasta course or with a large green salad.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the ingredients into the bread pan as indicated in the INGREDIENTS list and select the basic or white course, 2-pound loaf, medium crust.
If the dough looks a little loose because of the added tomatoes, add some flour a tablespoon at a time during the kneading course to get the right consistency. You can also sprinkle some basil on top of the loaf before the rising cycle begins.
When the loaf is done remove it from the bread pan and let it rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
Great to eat on its own and wonderful with a pasta course or with a large green salad.
Wonderful loaf, full of flavour and edible with both sweet and savoury accompaniments. Only problem was the volume. Made as suggested with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, the risen dough lifted the lid of my 1 kg bread maker. Slightly soft on top but delicious all the same.
Hi Rod,
That’s great to hear. The high rise you got could have happened for a variety of reasons. One is that some yeast packets show up with very healthy, hyperactive yeast. It’s rare but it happens. Also, the salt acts like a governor or control over the yeast. The salt moderates the yeast growth. If it keeps popping your bread machine top you can either try adding an additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt or reduce the ingredients by 1/4 to get a smaller loaf. That means you would use 3 cups of flour instead of 4 and then reduce the other ingredients the same way.
Glad you liked the recipe.
Steve