Cheese, bacon and onion pavé recipe

Details

• Cuisine: French
• Recipe Type: Bread
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 180 mins
• Cooking Time: 25 mins
• Serves: 6

Step-by-step

1. Place flour, salt, oil, sugar and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add water and, using a wooden spoon, combine the ingredients to form a dough mass.
2. Tip dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10–15 minutes, resting for 1 minute every 2–3 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Place dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour until almost doubled in size. Tip dough onto work surface and gently deflate it by folding it back onto itself three or four times. Return it to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for a further 30 minutes.
4. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Gently tip dough onto a lightly floured work surface and, using a rolling pin, roll out to a 75cm x 15cm rectangle. Position the dough rectangle on the work surface with the long edge facing you. Sprinkle dough evenly with grated cheese, onion and strips of bacon.
5. Fold top edge of dough slightly more than halfway down over the filling. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, brush the folded dough surface. Then fold the bottom dough edge with its filling upwards to just cover the wet surface, so that the filling is now encased in dough.
6. Lightly press down with the palm of your hand to seal. Lightly flour the sealed surface and roll the strip of filled dough over so the seam is on the bottom.
7. Use your hands as guides to make sure the long strip of filled dough is nice and straight. Using a large chef’s knife, cut the strip into 6–8 pieces.
8. Place each piece onto the prepared baking tray, leaving approximately 3cm between each one. Brush the tops with water and sprinkle remaining 100g grated cheese evenly over the surface.
9. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave to stand in a warm place for approximately 30 minutes. Ten minutes before this half hour is up, preheat your oven to 230C.
10. Remove plastic wrap and place filled dough pieces in the preheated oven. Create steam by spraying the oven walls with warm water from a spray bottle, or throw some ice cubes in a preheated baking dish at the bottom of the oven. This will help the bread become crusty. Put the bread in too, and quickly close oven door.