When whole wheat, oats and pesto combine to create a bread which is goodness redefined! This Whole Wheat and Oats Pesto Bread is amazing!
This whole wheat and oats pesto bread happened in my kitchen yesterday, I was down with a bad cold and cough and was craving for some hot and spicy soup and a bread to go along with it.
Despite of not being too well, there was this strong urge to bake some bread. A quick stock of my fridge and I saw some basil which needed to be used and a bottle of peeled pine nuts which I had picked up from Delhi and was begging to be used, and someone told me basil is supposed to be good for cold isn’t it 😉
The aroma of freshly ground pesto is so comforting. The mild sweetness of basil balanced by the strong aroma of garlic… Alas my cold didn’t let me enjoy any of those, but still pounding these together was a joy in itself!
I love making pesto at home. The fresh smell of the basil leaves and the pine nuts sure is enough to make one a happy person! And what I love about pesto is how versatile it can be! Eat it as a dip to crackers or biscuits. Or just add some to some pasta and you have an awesome looking dish ready! Put it in breads and bake it or just have it as a pizza topping! So much to do with one dish!
The word pesto is derived from the Italian word ‘pestare’ which means to pound or crush. And trust me, there is nothing that gives more satisfaction than seeing the pesto sauce emerging as you pound the ingredients in a mortar with a pestle!
Some pesto recipes on the blog
Whole Wheat and Oats Pesto Bread
Ingredients
for pesto
- 2 cups basil fresh leaves
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 4 pods garlic
for bread
- 3/4 cup Whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup oats
- 3 tablespoons Pesto (recipe above)
- 1 teaspoon Instant dry yeast
- 1/2 cup water approx warm
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil EV
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic roasted
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients of the pesto in a mortar and pestle and pound till coarse.
- Add the salt, pepper and add the olive oil slowly in a drizzle while you continue pounding.
- And your pesto is ready to serve.
- You can also use the food processor to grind the ingredients but trust me the hand pounding is every bit worth it.
- For bread:
- Mix the flour, oats, salt, yeast, garlic and pesto together either using the paddle attachment of your mixer or hand. (If you are using active dry yeast or fresh yeast you will have to let the yeast stand in water for 10 minutes before mixing)
- When its just mixed, switch to the dough hook and slowly add warm water and knead it starts looking a dough like. Add the oil at this stage.
- Put the machine at medium speed and forget about it for next 5-6 minutes. You can have your coffee till it kneads. If you kneading by hand continue kneading for 10 minutes or so. Go on, its a good upper body workout 🙂 You need to knead it the dough is soft and elastic in nature.
- Keep the dough in a greased bowl, covered with cling wrap and leave it in a warm place for 1-2 hours till it doubles in size. If its a little col, leave it inside your oven with the light on.
- Knock back all the air out of the ferment dough and knead it gently again for about 2-3 minutes. At this point of time, don't be very harsh with your dough.
- Let it rest for another 15 minutes.
- Knock back the air again and shape it desired shape and place it on the baking tray. Let it proof again for about 45 minutes or so, till it doubles. About 15 minutes after, heat your oven to 250C.
- Brush the bread with egg wash (optional but it gives the crust a beautiful color, if you don't want to use egg you can also use oil+milk to brush the bread)
- Reduce the temperature of the oven to 200C and bake the bread for about 35 mins or so till the crust is nice and brown and the bottom of the bread sounds hollow when tapped.
Notes
Stunning bread guruji 🙂
homemade bread with variants.. very nice..
LOL at guruji… stop it ok 😛
you certainly are. cant thank you enough for the class that you gave 🙂
Grinning *ear to ear*
thanks a lot
Hi ..basil leaves r unavailable here;is there any other ingredient we can use in its place !!
Hi Surya
technically pesto is made with basil leaves but there are times when I have made them using dil or parsley too. so may you can try that
Happy Baking
want to make this but please guide on which rack of the oven should it be kept and while baking should the both elements of the oven on or only bottom element on ? i have Sunflame company OTG .hope for the reply from your side.
meenakshi I would bake it in the middle rack
Yummy!! Where can one find basil in Bangalore and sun dried tomatoes!!! Please guide!
Monika, this is such an awesome and creative recipe. Thanks for sharing!