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Most bread tastes best on the day it is made. So, I like to try and make only as much as everyone can eat. This pesto star bread is a sharing bread big enough to serve 4-6 people and is an excellent side for a barbecue or dinner party! It is also great to take to potlucks or picknicks.
This recipe for my pesto star bread is a slightly down-scaled version using only 300g of flour, as opposed to the 500g a lot of other recipes use. Thus, taking it from about 8-10 to 4-6 servings, perfect for a family dinner.
What ingredients do you need to make a Pesto Star Bread?
All you need to make this pesto star bread is basic bread dough ingredients, i.e. strong bread flour, salt, yeast, olive oil and water, and some pesto to fill the bread!
You can use shop-bought pesto, but I much prefer the fresh taste of homemade pesto. It´s easier to make than you might think, so make sure to check out my recipe for Homemade Green Pesto here.
You can easily change up the filling for this star bread, with many different savoury and even sweet options to choose from. For example, I have used my homemade Sundried Tomato and Rosemary Pesto or black olive tapenade in this star bread before. You could also brush each layer with melted butter and scatter over some crushed garlic and chopped parsley for a garlic bread variation, or you could spread over some passata/pizza sauce, a few of your favourite pizza toppings and a little grated cheese in between each layer! If you are looking for something sweet, why not spread some jam or Nutella/chocolate spread in between layers, or brush with melted butter and sprinkle on some sugar and cinnamon! The possibilities are endless!
How do you shape the Pesto Star Bread?
Whilst this bread certainly looks impressive and like it was hard to shape, it´s actually a lot easier than you think!
The bread dough is divided into 4 pieces and shaped into circles. The four pieces of dough are then layered on top of one another with a layer of pesto in between each one (the top is left bare). Then, keeping the middle part intact, the dough circle is cut into 16 segments, of which two are twisted together to form a point of a star, leaving you with 8 points in total. Check out the picture guide and a detailed description for the shaping process in the recipe below!
More Summer and Sharing Recipes
This pesto star bread is the perfect tear-and-share bread that is perfect for summer barbecues and sharing with friends. If you are looking for more recipe inspiration, why not check out some of the posts below:
- Rosemary Focaccia Bread
- Easy Lamb Kebabs | Summer BBQ Recipe
- French Olive Baguettes (Baguettes aux Olives)
- Quick and Easy Couscous Salad
- Homemade Hummus
- Red Onion and Balsamic Soda Bread
- Colourful Quinoa Salad
- Tomato and Mozzarella Focaccia Bread
- Ultimate Guacamole Recipe
Pesto Star Bread
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 300g strong white bread flour
- 7g (1 sachet) fast-action dried yeast
- 7g salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for kneading
- 150ml lukewarm water
TO FINISH:
- 0.5-1 jar of shop-bought or homemade pesto
- A handful of pine nuts, toasted
- Egg, beaten with a little salt
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- Rolling pin
- ~5cm diameter jam jar lid or similar (e.g. cookie cutter, glass, etc.)
- Silicone pastry brush
Method:
- Put all the ingredients for the dough into a bowl, making sure you add the yeast to one side and the salt to the other. Start mixing the ingredients together until they come together to form a rough dough.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, and stretchy. Lightly oil the sides of your mixing bowl (no need to wash), shape the dough into a ball and place it into the bowl. Cover and leave to proof for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
- In the meantime, line a baking tray with some greaseproof paper.
- Once doubled in size, turn the dough onto a clean surface and give it a quick knead to gently knock some of the air out. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (~125g each) and shape into small balls.
- Next, lightly flour the surface and a rolling pin and roll out each of the four pieces of dough into circles. Try and get them as large as you can and about 0.5cm thick.
- Place on of the circles onto the lined baking tray, then spread about ⅓ of the pesto on top, making sure to take it all the way to the edge. Lay the next circle of dough on top and cover with pesto. Repeat once more, then lay the final circle of dough over the top.
- Next, take the lid of a jar and place it into the middle of the top circle of dough. The piece of dough under the lid will stay intact, whilst the rest is sliced to shape the bread into a star.
- Take a sharp knife and cut the dough surrounding the lid of the jar into 16 pieces that are roughly even in size. The best way to do so is to do four cuts, one at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o´clock to divide the circle into quarters. Then cut each quarter in half and then cut each piece of dough in half again, giving you 16 pieces/strands in total (see pictures).
- To shape, take two of the strands and twist them away from each other by 360°. Then pinch the ends together to create a point of your star bread. Repeat with the remaining strands to create an eight-pointed star.
- Loosely cover the pesto star bread with clingfilm and leave it to proof for another 30-45 minutes until it starts to look a little puffy.
- In the meantime, toast the pine nuts in a small pan (no oil needed). Moving them around constantly to prevent burning, toast them for about 2-3 minutes until they start to brown, and they smell fragrant. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a little salt.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Use a silicone pastry brush to gently brush the pesto star bread with the egg wash. Press the toasted pine nuts into the middle part of the star bread to decorate.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Cover the bread with tin foil if it is browning too quickly but not fully baked yet.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
