Pesto Rolls

Category: Cocktails & Appetizers | Blog URL: http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/2009/10/pesto-rolls-for-obsessed-me.html

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Asha

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup + ⅛ cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/8 cup olive oil

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

For the pesto:

2 cloves roasted garlic

1 cup arugula leaves

1 cup basil leaves

1/4 cup pine nuts, roasted

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

pepper and parmesan for assembly as needed

Preparation

In a bowl, soak the yeast in warm water and set aside for a couple of minutes.

Whisk in the oil, salt and sugar. Mix in a cup of flour. The dough will be very sticky, don't worry.

Set the dough in warm place to rise and double for an hour.

Sift together the rest of the flour, baking soda and powder and mix into the dough to form a pliable and soft dough which is very elastic.

If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

Dump onto a lightly floured surface, cover with bowl and let it sit for a minute or two.

Meanwhile make the pesto by grinding together all the ingedrients. I usually eyeball measures, so use more or less of the ingredients as per your taste.

Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle. Go as thin as you can without tearing.

Generously spread the pesto paste leaving a small 1/2 inch border.

Sprinkle pepper and more parmesan all over.

Roll in the dough along the length as tightly as you can to form a log.

Finish off by sealing the seam with a brush of oil.

Cut inch thick pieces of the log and place in a oil pan.

Leave about half inch between the pieces.

Place in a warm spot and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until the crust is light golden.

Cool on rack for a few minutes till its cool enough to handle and eat ofcourse!

You can sprinkle additional parmesan on top of the warm rolls, if you want.

Tools

Comments

Permalink Helen Pitlick
December 22, 2009

These rolls look amazing. Pesto is delicious, bread is delicious... how can the two combined not be delicious?

Permalink Asha
December 22, 2009

Thanks much Helen! They were indeed yummy!! :)

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About

There are always symptoms to an obsession - the uncontrollable compulsive urge, changing life patterns and ofcourse the painful withdrawal when weaned away forcibly. The object of the obsession can be anything really, not necessarily a vice.

Mine is this blog. Here is how I know -
I spend hours getting my blog to look just they way I want; staying awake till the wee hours to tinker with the HTML, which, I was learning along the way...

I have stopped making anything interesting for dinner because my camera can't take good photographs in artificial light ...

I am constantly on the lookout, online or in physical shops, for plates, cups, bakeware and other props. To the extent that when Mr. FSK asked me what I would like for my birthday, I said "MORE PROPS!!!!!!" .. I know!

I make stuff, not because I happen to and then post about it, but because I need something to post about! This post is case in point....

I woke up today and after my usual morning rituals of checking mails, other people's blog, twitter and other social networking agents, it hit me that my last post on this blog was on Sunday, FOUR whole days back!!! And, worse, I realise I had no inventory for blogging! What do I do now?!!

I decided I needed to make something asap to post about. Wait! But there was a constraint. You see, I LOVE baking, and, I have a HUGE sweet tooth. So, inevitably, there is always a sugar-rich item at home. Now, since the lovely festival of Diwali was last weekend, there is even more of it lying around. So, Mr. FSK lay down the law and I can't make anything sweet for the rest of the month... Party pooper, I know!!!

Anyway, not to worry, I love making breads et all. I decided to bake, even if I had to think of a savory substitution for a sweet recipe. And, that's how these Pesto Rolls came to be. The inspiration was cinnamon rolls, those rich, sticky, oozy, yummy things. I just savorised (is there a word like that?) the recipe with pesto filling of arugula, basil, roasted garlic, parmesan and pine nuts.

They came out nice and are really very tasty little bites. I made teeny rolls, but they can be easily super sized. Now, the only problem is saving it till Mr. gets back home, since I have been popping them in my mouth every time I walk past. I am down to the last five and it is going to be tea time shortly.. haha

So, there, all's well.... I know I have an obsession but it isn't a problem.... yet. So it's ok right?!