Vegan Sun dried Tomato and Olive Pesto Braided Bread

I used to be so intimidated when it came to baking.  I mean, all of those precise measurements!  When it comes to cooking, I never use exact measurements.  I always just do what I think would be correct.  But no no...not when it comes to baking!  Though, once you have a good and trustworthy bread recipe memorized, it is time to have some fun!

I have made other variations of this Russian Braided Bread pre-blog days and remembered it turning out simply amazing!  The outside is brilliantly crusty, while the inside is like a soft doughy, heavenly pillow.  This baby was simply baked to perfection.  After making it again today, with my variation of a sun dried tomato and olive pesto, I thought to myself, why aren't bakeries selling something like this???  This is seriously the BEST bread that has ever touched my taste buds!

One thing to remember when dealing breads or pastries is that the dough can become sticky, messy and frustrating.  Something I have learned along the way to minimize doughy, sticky fingers is to always coat your hands with flour.  This will prevent gooey fingers and countless attempts to wash off the dough.

Vegan Sundried Tomato and Olive Pesto Braided Bread 

Ingredients/Directions:

for the bread dough:

3 - 3 1/2 c all purpose flour (plus more flour if needed)

1 package of active instant yeast

2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 c water

1/4 vegetable oil

1 tbsp vinegar

for the Sun dried Tomato and Olive Pesto:

1/2 c sun dried tomatoes

1/4 c kalamato olives

1/4 c green olives

1-2 tbsp evoo

 Directions:

Combine all dry ingredients in a food processor, using the dough attachment.  In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and slowly pour into the food processor.  Mix the dough until a ball is formed.  Remove from food processor.  Lightly oil a bowl, place dough in bowl and cover with a wet cloth and let dough rise for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 400.

In the meantime,  start making your pesto.  Simply combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Set aside.

After an hour, knead dough with hands for about 5 minutes.  With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 in thick.  With a spoon, evenly spread the sun dried tomato pesto over the entire dough.  Cut the dough in half, lengthwise and place the two halves in an "X" form.  Now braid the two pieces together by, left over right.  Pinch each ends together, then roll into a giant snail shell.  Place bread onto baking sheet and bake on 400 for about 10 minutes, then turn down to 375 and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

 

Vegan Baked Samosa Cake with Mint and Tamarind Chutney

One of my favorite things to do is to take a traditional recipe and play around with it and reconfigure into something else (if you are a regular reader, you will know this).  There is nothing crazy or spectacular about this samosa transformation other than that is tastes spectacular!  By including the every so flavorful and mouthwatering chutneys are just a bonus....a bonus that you will want over and over again!  I am not kidding, you will want to eat the mint chutney with a fork and simply just drink the tamarind chutney.  Yes, they are simply that delicious!

By taking away the pastry element of the ever so popular Indian appetizer, and making it into a patty makes this a terrific main dish!  All you really do is hand mash the potatoes, add in flax eggs and veggies, season to perfection, then form into a patty with your hands.  Keep in mind, if you nail the spices, you have nailed the recipe!

 Vegan Baked Samosa Cake with Mint and Tamarind Chutney

Ingredients/Directions for SAMOSA CAKES:

1 Idaho potato

1 tbsp evoo

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 c frozen peas, thawed

1-2 green chilies, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp smoked paprika

s+p to taste

2-3 tbsp chickpea flour (or flour of choice)

Preheat oven 400.

Peel and cut potato into cubes and boil in lightly salted water until potato is soft enough to cut through easily.  Drain potatoes and mash the potatoes by hand, using evoo if need be to moisten the potatoes.
In a saute pan, heat evoo on medium-high heat.  Add in onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and green chiles.  Saute for 3-5 minutes, or until carrots are soft.  Toss in peas and the seasonings.  Transfer to the bowl of mashed potatoes and mix until everything is combined.  Add in chickpea flour to make the consistency more firm and easier to combine patties. 
With your hands, combine about 1/3 cup of the mixture into patties.  Repeat until mixture is done.
Bake in oven for roughly 20 minutes, flipping once, halfway through.

Ingredients/Directions for the MINT CHUTNEY:

1 c mint leaves
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green onions, chopped
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1 green chili, chopped and seeds removed
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Add a bit of water if need be to blend more smoothly.

Ingredients/Directions for the TAMARIND CHUTNEY

1 tbsp evoo
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp tamarind concentrate

 Heat evoo in small pot.  Saute cumin seeds and fennel seeds for about 2 minutes.  Add in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Add in more sugar if need be.  Remove from heat, transfer to bowl and cool in refrigerator until ready to serve.