Another successful Paul Hollywood bread recipe that is lovely to look at and even better to eat.  This one was devoured at my wine group. We were doing a Riesling night and the heavy texture with cheese and bacon was a perfect paring.  (or at least I thought so)

Pain de Savoie (makes 1 loaf)

400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

100g rye flour

10g salt

8g fast-action dried yeast

20ml olive oil, plus extra for oiling

330ml cool water

150g lardons, fried and cooled

200g Comté cheese, cut into 1cm cubes

Step 1: Mix the flours in a large bowl and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the olive oil and 250ml of the water and mix with the fingers of one hand. Add as much of the rest of the water as you need to form a soft dough; rye flour takes a lot of water so you should need most or all of it. Tip the dough onto an oiled work surface and knead well for 5–10 minutes or more, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add the cooled lardons, working them well into the dough. Form the dough into a ball and put in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave to rise until at least doubled or trebled in size – at least 2 hours.

Step 2: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 3 equal pieces. Knock back by pushing down on the dough with the heels of your hands, then your knuckles and fingertips, and folding the dough in on itself several times. Form each piece into a ball.

Step 3: Oil a 20cm springform cake tin. Roll out a ball of dough to a 1.5–2cm thick circle, to fit the tin and lay it in the bottom. Scatter over half of the cheese. Roll out a similar disc of dough and lay on top. Add the rest of the cheese. Roll out the final ball of dough and place on top. Dust with flour. Put the tin inside a roomy plastic bag and leave to prove for about 1 hour, or until well puffed up. Meanwhile, heat your oven to 220°C. Bake the loaf in the oven for 30 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I am cooking my way through this book and have not yet had a failure, so really do recommend buying this book.  He shows you all the steps in wonderful photos, then shows you suggestions of what it tastes great with.  I have not been disappointed.  And I always leave the cookbook in my kitchen.  Not bad to look at either….

Happy Baking!