This impressive-looking bread is much easier to make than it looks! It can easily be adapted by replacing the filling with alternative sweet or savoury fillings.
Dough
1 kg shop-bought bread dough
Spinach, Spring Onion & Cheese Filling
400 g baby spinach leaves, rinsed
125 ml spring onion, thinly sliced
10 ml crushed garlic
5 ml salt
50 g parmesan, Grana Padano or Pecorino cheese, grated
50 ml cake flour
Egg Glaze
1 large egg
10 ml water
- To make the filling, place the spinach, spring onion, garlic and salt in a large saucepan and sauté gently until wilted.
- Transfer the spinach mixture to a chopping board and chop it finely.
- Transfer the spinach mixture to a mixing bowl and add the cheese.
- Add the cake flour if the mixture looks wet. Mix well and set it aside to cool.
- Place two Wizbake baking sheets on a work surface and place the dough on the sheets.
- Use a pastry cutter and cut the dough into two equal pieces.
- Use a rolling pin and roll both pieces of dough into circles (about 50 cm in diameter) and set it aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 170º C.
- Combine the egg and water in a small mixing bowl and brush it all over one of the dough circles with a pastry brush.
- Scoop a few tablespoons of the filling into the middle of the dough circle.
- Scoop the rest of the filling 2 cm away from the edge of the circle (see photo below).
- Cover the first dough circle with the 2nd dough circle and cut away the excess dough.
- Use cupped hands and gently press into the dough around the filling to get rid of any air between the two layers of dough.
- Pinch the edges of the two circles lightly together.
- Use a pastry cutter and cut the dough at 2 cm intervals so that it looks like the petals of a flower (see photo below).
- Leave a circle (10 to 15 cm in diameter) in die middle of the dough.
- Lift up one petal at a time and twist it to the right. Do the same with the rest of the petals (see photo below)
- Brush the dough all over with the egg glaze.
- Sprinkle the poppy seeds onto the mound in the centre of the dough.
- Transfer the Wizbake sheet with the dough to a baking sheet and place it in the oven.
- Bake the bread for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Transfer the bread to a cooling rack to cool slightly before serving.
