Cheesy Garlic PULL-APART Bread

From Albert Bevia:
TIPS & TRICKS to make this Recipe: I used the bake + broil option when I baked this bread. If your oven can´t do both functions at the same time, just bake it for the same time I baked mine, then add to the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. Or, if you have the bake option with fan, just use that setting with the same baking time. Maybe a 1 or 2 minute difference, since every oven heat´s differently.

Cheesy Garlic PULL-APART Bread

For those of you that follow Spain on a Fork, you know I´ve been making a ton of bread recipes during this lockdown. There is just something so rewarding about making homemade bread.

Watch Albert preparing this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_lk54M-Vmg&t=297s

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 7 oz block mild Manchego cheese
  • 4 cloves garlic

Instructions

  1. Cut 24 cubes that are 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch from a block of Manchego cheese, then shred a generous 2 cups, set aside
  2. Add 3 cups all-purpose flour into a large bowl, along with 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sea salt and 1 tbsp dried oregano, mix the dry ingredients together, then add in 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 cup water, mix all the ingredients together, once they start forming a dough get in there with your hands and continue to mix, once you end up with a compact dough, knead inside the bowl for 1 to 2 minutes, shape into a ball
  3. Sprinkle some all-purpose flour on a clean flat surface, add the ball of dough on top, cut it into 3 evenly sized pieces, shape each one into a ball, cut each ball of dough into 8 evenly sized pieces, to end up with 24 pieces of dough
  4. Grab a cube of the cheese and add into a piece of dough, seal the dough well over the cheese and shape into a ball, do this until you end up with 24 stuffed pieces of dough
  5. Line an 8-inch round baking pan with parchment paper, add the balls of dough, making sure they´re all tightly compacted together
  6. Add a generous tbsp of extra virgin olive oil into a bowl, shred in 4 cloves of garlic and add in 1/2 tbsp dried oregano, mix until well combined, pour the mixture over the pieces of dough and brush all over until it´s evenly divided

  7. Add the baking pan into a preheated oven, bake + broil option 210 C – 425 F, after 15 minutes open the oven and slide the pan out, sprinkle the shredded cheese all over the bread and add back into the oven, after 5 minutes remove from the oven, transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve at once, enjoy!

Why California EVOO?

The California Olive Oil Council is an independent organization that promotes extra virgin olive oil made in California. Their COOC Seal on the bottle certifies that the olive oil inside has been professionally tasted, is fresh, California-grown, and meets true extra virgin standards. The COOC has also recently developed a website, “Why California EVOO”  to inform the public of the real benefits of purchasing California olive oil. Only the five Mediterranean climate zones (shown below) can support olive production, and then only in agriculturally suitable areas.  That means that of the 3% of the world’s land area that has a Mediterranean climate, only about half can support olive orchards.  Fortunately, California has a huge area in which olive groves thrive, and that’s local to all of us in North America.

Most COOC certified olive farms are small and run by people dedicated to creating great artisan olive oil. By contrast, imported olive oil generally comes from large production facilities ruled by different considerations.

By the way, the COOC just added Apollo Olive Oil’s bio to their Meet the Makers section. Their main site, COOC.com also has  a lot of good information on many topics from health and nutrition, recipes and kitchen tips, to orchard FAQs.