cheesy bacon ring

Pagnotta is a type of Italian bread that has a hard crust and a soft centre. In some parts of Italy, pagnotta is made into small round rolls.

Pagnotta is often used to make soup bowls, pizza crusts or focaccia.

I had in mind to bake something similar to pagnotta but I wanted to keep the process simple because we had a dinner appointment.

In the end, I decided to bake a cheesy bacon ring. The texture of this bread is similar to pagnotta in that the crust is harder while the centre is soft.

Ingredients

1/2 tsp castor sugar

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup milk powder

3 1/2 cups bread flour

2 tsp instant dry yeast

4 strips of back bacon (cut into small pieces)

grated Parmesan cheese

dried Italian herbs

bacon bits

Method

1. Place all the ingredients (except the brad flour, yeast, bacon, cheese, herbs and bacon bits) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. Five minutes into the dough cycle, open the lid of the breadmaker machine and add the back bacon without stopping the cycle. Let the cycle continue.

6. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough about 5 times.

7. Separate the dough into two portions and shape each portion in the shape of a ring.

8. Place each portion on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

9. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.