Bacon & Bellingham Blue Cheese Loaf

I made this during my cookery demonstration at Taste of Togher recently and it went down a storm! I promised a few people that I would post the recipe on the blog so here goes! This is a hearty &  filling bread that is very easy to make. It’s a great bread to have in your freezer too as it is perfect for toast in the morning-a whole breakfast in a slice! (well almost) We are very lucky to have such a fantastic local blue cheese here in Co. Louth- Bellingham Blue Cheese and I love using smoked streaky bacon in this bread.

“Proving” popular at Taste of Togher! (sorry couldn’t resist)

Ingredients:

650g strong white flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

14g pack fast acting yeast (2 x 7 g packs)

3 tablespoon Derrycamma rapeseed oil

350-400ml lukewarm water

4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, cooked & chopped

150g Bellingham blue cheese, crumbled

1 egg, whisked

Method:

1. Put the flour and salt into a large bowl, add the sugar and yeast.
2. Make a well in the centre, add the oil and water.
3. Gradually work into the flour to make a soft dough.
4. Sprinkle over a little flour if the mixture feels too sticky, but make sure it is not too dry- the dough should be pliable and smooth.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, knead for 10 minutes  (sprinkling a little flour on when needed) until the dough is smooth and stretchy (soft but elastic).
6. Cover with cling film and let rise in warm spot until doubled in volume, about 1 to 1½  hours.
7. Sprinkle the bacon & Bellingham blue cheese  into the dough and ensure they are buried in
8. Pull pieces of the dough off and shape into balls by rolling between your hands
9. Place the balls of dough into a round cake tin in a circle, placing one in the middle( I found a spring release 9” or 23 cm tin useful to do this) and leave for another 10-15mins to allow to rise
10. Preheat the oven to 220˚ C / 200˚c Fan / Gas 6
11. Brush a little egg on top of each roll
12. Bake for 15-20 mins or until they are golden brown.

Went down well at a recent catering job too!