Rolled Up Red Pepper Bread

The smell of roasting peppers is irresistible. I have observed this fact over the past few years, and yet still manage to be amazed by it every time. A person walking into your kitchen while you are busy roasting peppers, is sure to be dumbfounded by the exquisite aroma emanating from your oven.

I made this bread twice. The first time I followed the original recipe, which called for mixing the peppers into the bread. This is all very nice, but I ended up with a wet mess that was impossible to knead, and a bread that took forever to dry out in the oven. The second time I made some changes, and came up with the idea of rolling it up. This eliminates the second stage of kneading and more importantly separates the dough from the peppers. The peppers infuse the dough with their wonderful fragrance and flavor, and the dough is akin to a pizza dough that has been rolled up. Adding cheese is an exercise which I leave to the reader.

Rolled Up Red Pepper Bread
(based on a recipe by Erez Komarovsky)

In the morning:
2 cups (250g) all purpose flour
1 cup water
1 tablespoon yeast

Mix the three ingredients for a few minutes, cover and set aside.

In the evening:
3 cups (350g) all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon yeast
2-3 teaspoons salt
chopped fresh oregano
3 peppers, red, orange or yellow
1 tablespoon olive oil
coarse salt

1. Take the mixture from the morning stage, add the water, flour and yeast.
2. Mix well, add the salt and mix well again.
3. Knead for 10 minutes (or 5 minutes in a KitchenAid), and cover
4. Let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 2 hours
5. In the meantime roast the peppers for 30 minutes with some olive oil and coarse salt. You can chop them up before or after (I don’t bother removing the skin).
6. Punch down the dough and roll it out, making a large rectangle. Spread the peppers and oregano along the long side, and roll up tightly.
7. Let rise until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) degrees, until the bottom sounds hollow, about 50 minutes. I recommend baking on a stone, with tray with water on the bottom, if you want a good crust.
9. Leave to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack (or anything that will allow air to move freely underneath).
10. Slice, and enjoy!