Roasted Red Pepper, Fontina and Salami Bread

Last week I knew it was time to work on my much neglected bread making skills. I made a traditional egg dough Challah, a Rosemary Sea Salt Flatbread and this amazingly awesome meat cheese and pepper concoction. My first two attempts do not compare to this amazingly awesome little number here. I so loved and delighted in the flavors of this bread I ate a half a load all by myself in a couple of hours. I just kept going back for "one more piece". Needless to say I had to get it out of the house, and fast. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and be prepared to share.Yield: 2 Loaves of Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup Warm Water*

• 1/2 Oz Yeast (I use Red Star)

• 1 1/4 Lbs Bread Flour (I use White Lily)

• 2 Oz Butter, at room temperature

• 1 1/2 Oz Granulated White Sugar

• 1/2 Oz Salt

• 1 Egg

• 1 Tbsp Corn Syrup

• 1 Cup Fontina Cheese, shredded + 1/4 Cup to top loaves

• 1/2 Cup Roasted Red Peppers, chopped (if using an olive oil soaked version in a jar, pat off excess oil with paper towels)

• 1/4 Cup Hard Italian Salami Slices, diced

  *Note: To ensure consistency of bread baking over the seasons I use the traditional method of weighing the dry ingredients for this recipe. In the humid heat of the South the weight of dry ingredients can change drastically between Summer and Winter.

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine warm water and yeast according to package directions. Allow yeast to sit and bloom (foam) about 5 minutes.

2. While yeast is blooming, in an electric stand mixer with a dough hook combine Bread Flour, Butter, Sugar (divide a couple tablespoons of the Sugar into the Yeast mixture), Salt, Eggs and Corn Syrup until you have a smooth batter. Be sure to follow the instructions on your mixer, for example most KitchenAid varieties only use Speed 2 for the Dough Hook.

3. Add the Yeast Mixture and mix until smooth to combine all ingredients. Knead the dough for about another 2 minutes with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic. In the last minute of mixing add Fontina Cheese, Roasted Red Peppers and Salami.

4. Remove dough from the bowl, divide into two equal portions and shape into two round loaves. Place each shaped loaf on its own small baking sheet lined with parchment paper (Note: you can sprinkle the parchment paper with coarse ground cornmeal to add crunchiness and texture to the bottom of your bread). Cover loaves with plastic wrap and allow to rest and rise for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake each loaf separately for about 25-40 minutes depending on your dough and oven. 10 Minutes into baking, drizzle a little Olive Oil and sprinkle extra Fontina Cheese on top.

6. Remove bread from oven when it is a dark golden brown. Serve warm with salted butter. Enjoy!