Rustic Chorizo and Cheddar Loaf

A few months ago I was reading Paul Hollywood’s book How to Bake and trying some of his recipes. One of the recipes I tried was his Bacon and Cheddar Loaves. Unfortunately I didn’t have any bacon so I used chorizo instead. The reception was great, both at home and at work so I filed it away for future reference. This week I decided it was time for some savory baking and I planned to adapt the recipe to share with you. I pulled out Paul’s recipe and started looking at it again but I soon realized it was going to be more challenging than anticipated to adapt.

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Paul’s recipe is in metric measurements by weight, which is very efficient but since I post my recipes in both measurements that presents a problem. Converting from weight to volume is way too difficult for this girl. I changed plans on the fly and instead invented my own Rustic Chorizo and Cheddar Loaf. Naturally I was nervous since I’ve only developed my own bread recipe once before, but I used that one as a reference and I’m so excited with the results!

I can’t resist using multiple types of flour in bread but this one is fairly simple. White (preferably unbleached), whole wheat and oat. If you don’t have oat flour on hand you can make some by blending old-fashioned oats – super easy! Sorry for the crummy one handed cell phone shots but I wanted to include some process shots and I was in a hurry.

Have you seen the proofing bags that they use for bread on The Great British Baking Show? I could not figure out where to get something like that until yesterday. I realized that all I needed was a cheap (small/thin) trash bag and voila. Fill it with air and slide your tray in. Tuck the ends under the bottom of the tray and you have a covered space for the bread to rise without anything resting on it! If you haven’t read any of Paul Hollywood’s baking books you should try one. How to Bake is definitely my favorite. My one recommendation is to cut back on the salt in his recipes.

Now you need to try this breakfast: a toasted slice of your Rustic Chorizo and Cheddar Loaf topped with habanero gouda, a fried egg and fresh chives. It did not disappoint! We’ve also eaten it as toast with spaghetti for dinner and scrambled eggs for breakfast. If you have suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Don’t forget to pin this one for later and share with your friends!

-Erin

Rustic Chorizo and Cheddar Loaf

• Author: The Teatime Baker
• Prep Time: 2-3 hours
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 2-1/2 hours
• Yield: 1 loaf 1x
• Category: Bread

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Description

Breakfast gets an upgrade with this delicious rustic chorizo and cheddar loaf. With swirls of cheese and spicy chorizo throughout it’s sure to be a fast favorite!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups (270g) unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup (65g) whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup (40g) oat flour
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup (235ml) lukewarm water
• 8–9 oz (225-250g) chorizo
• 1/2 cup (35g) grated cheddar cheese

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Instructions

1. Put all the flours into the bowl of a mixer.
2. Add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast into the other.
3. Stir, then add the oil and water.
4. Mix until everything comes together then turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead.
5. For best results knead for 5-8 minutes – it builds the gluten and your muscles in one go! Once the flour is incorporated finish your kneading with oil so your bread doesn’t get weighed down with extra flour.
6. Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Let it rise until doubled: 1-2 hours.
7. Grate the cheese and set aside. Fry the chorizo, drain the grease and turn it out onto paper towels to soak up any extra grease.
8. Turn the dough out onto the counter. Pour the meat and cheese onto it, fold the dough around them into a rough ball and start to knead it through.
9. It will start to get messy as it distributes through the dough and it will make some lovely orange grease on the counter. Mine wiped off with no problem but if you’re not sure you can knead on plastic wrap or a tray.
10. Shape the dough into an elongated oval on a baking sheet. Dust with flour and slash the top once lengthwise.
11. Pre-heat the oven to 450 F (220 C) and let your loaf rise for 20-30 mins.
12. Bake for 30 minutes and then test it by tapping the crust – if it sounds hollow it’s done!
13. Let it cool and slice.

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Notes

This is a great bread to make sandwiches on or to toast with your breakfast eggs.

Keywords: rustic bread recipe, chorizo and cheddar bread, homemade cheezy bread recipe