Baking Bread

Roquefort and Walnut Loaf

by
Recipe by Paul Hollywood
Ingredients
  • 450g/1lb strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 50g/1¾oz rye flour
  • 10g/⅓oz salt
  • 8g fast-action dried yeast
  • 200g/7oz walnuts, chopped
  • 200g/7oz Roquefort, cut into 2cm/¾in cubes
  • 1 free-range egg, beaten for egg wash

PREP TIME

over 2 hours

COOK TIME

30-60 minutes

SERVES

6

Instructions
  1. Mix the flours in a large bowl of a freestanding mixer and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other.
  2. Add 250ml/9fl oz water and mix with the fingers of one hand.
  3. Add up to 100ml/3½fl oz more water, as required to form a soft dough; rye flour takes a lot of water so you should need most or all of it.
  4. Knead for 5-10 minutes on medium speed to a smooth dough. (You could also knead the bread by hand, but it may take a bit longer.)
  5. Add the chopped walnuts to the dough and gently knead until they are incorporated.
  6. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1-2 hours, until at least doubled in size.
  7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knock it back, then divide into four equal pieces.
  8. Flatten each piece of dough into a 15x8cm/6x3in rectangle.
  9. Place a quarter of the Roquefort along the long edge of one of the rectangles and roll up like a Swiss roll.
  10. Using your hands, roll the dough into a 25cm/10in sausage shape. Repeat with the remaining dough.
  11. Lightly oil a 20cm/8in springform cake tin. Carefully coil each sausage of dough into a spiral and place into the cake tin, when all four spirals are in the tin they should resemble a four-leaf clover. Cover with cling film and set aside to prove for a further hour.
  12. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C(fan)/Gas 8.
  13. Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes.
  14. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Equipment

Free Standing Mixer

20cm / 8in Springform Cake Tin

Substitute

Can use any type of soft blue cheese instead of Roquefort