Cheese Stuffed Peppadew Stuffed Buns #BreadBakers

Cheese stuffed Peppadew stuffed buns are fluffy with a savory surprise on the inside. They are super easy to make and would be a fun addition to your holiday meal or summer barbecue.

My neighborhood grocery store has a decent deli counter for such a small place. You can walk all the way around it, cheeses on one side, whole smoked turkey breasts and salami, etc. for slicing on another side, along with hot and cold prepared dishes sold by weight. My favorite side by far offers a colorful assortment of marinated stuff: olives, baby octopus, roasted artichoke hearts, lemons, anchovies and peppers, just to name a few.

Even the tasty Peppadews come in three versions, filled with Parmesan, feta or blue cheese. This month my Bread Bakers are creating delicious breads with peppers and it occurred to me that a festive Peppadew peeking from within a soft bun would be a very good idea. I was not wrong.

This recipe is adapted from one on the King Arthur website, meant to make 24 relatively quick yeasty dinner rolls.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon yeast, instant preferred
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml warm water
1 cup or 240ml warm milk
3 to 3 1/2 cups or 375- 440g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
12 cheese stuffed Peppadews

Method
Measure the yeast, butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl or into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the warm water and milk and set aside for 6 to 8 minutes or until you see foam forming in the bowl. If you don’t see the yeast foaming, throw the whole thing out and go and buy some new yeast.

Add the salt and 2 1/2 cups or 312g of the flour to the bowl and mix in well. It’s going to be quite wet still.

If you are using a stand mixer, switch over to the dough hook and add a tablespoon of flour at a time with the mixer running, until you have a soft dough. Otherwise, add it and mix in with a wooden spoon.

Knead with the machine or by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Make a ball with the dough and drizzle the olive oil into your bowl.

Put the dough ball back in and turn it around a couple of times to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with some cling film or a damp cloth and set in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Lay a couple of layers of paper towels out on a small plate and line the stuffed Peppadews up to drain, first cheese side down, then cheese side up. You don’t want to lose your cheese filling, just to get rid of most of the marinating oil.

Bonus: Use the marinating oil that’s left behind in your deli container as a salad dressing, mixed with a little lime or lemon juice.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 12 equal pieces. You can, of course, eyeball this but I have a digital scale I love so I weigh the whole dough ball, then divide by 12 to figure out how big each piece should be and weigh the bits as I cut them off.

Roll your dough pieces into balls.

Use a rolling pin to roll each ball into a circle and place a stuffed Peppadew cheese side down on the circle.

Gather up the sides of the dough circle and pinch them together to enclose the pepper securely.

Put the bun pinched side down on your baking pan. Which means, that the Peppadew is cheese side up again inside the bun. I lined my baking pan with a silicone mat but you could also use baking parchment.

Continue rolling and filling and pinching until all 12 buns are done.

Cover the baking pan lightly with cling film and allow to rise at room temperature for about 20 minutes. (Assuming your room temperature isn’t too cold – if you are baking in the dead of winter and your house is cold, find a warm spot to leave them.)

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°F.

Bake the buns for about 20-25 minutes or until they are nicely risen and golden brown all over.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. If you choose to serve these warm, keep in mind that the Peppadew and cheese will be very hot and might burn you as you bite into them.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our host this month, Sue of Palatable Pastime. I know folks who grow their own peppers are enjoying an abundant crop this time of year so I’m sure they’ll welcome our creative recipes for using those peppers up. Check them out!

• Bellpeppers and Cheese Scones by Basic N Delicious
• Bellpepper and Paneer Stuffed Lattice Bread by Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Bell Pepper Stuffed Whole Wheat Buns by Sara’s Tasty Buds
• Capsicum Onion Pizza with Wholegrain Base by Ambrosia
• Cheddar and Jalapeño Scones by Herbivore Cucina
• Cheese Stuffed Peppadew Stuffed Buns by Food Lust People Love
• Crushed Red Pepper Grissini by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Fatayer Jebneh by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Green Chile and Cheddar Biscuits by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Hatch Chile Zucchini Bread by Magnolia Days
• Jalapeño Bread by Cook's Hideout
• Jalapeño Flour Tortillas by Hostess At Heart
• Jalapeño Sourdough Corn Bread by Baking Sense
• Msemen Maamer - Moroccan Flatbread Stuffed with Peppers by The Bread She Bakes
• Parmesan Cracked Pepper Beer Bread by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Pepper Pav Buns by Sizzling Tastebuds
• Roasted Red Pepper Bread by A Shaggy Dough Story
• Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse by Spiceroots
• Spicy Herb Monkey Bread by Passion Kneaded
• Whole Wheat Spicy Rolls by Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Vegetable Stuffed Braided Bread by My Cooking Journey
• Zucchini and Pepper Cornbread by Palatable Pastime

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Cherry Tomato Sweet Pepper Mozzarella Tart

This summer, I had the pleasure of cooking for my mother- and father-in-law at least a couple of times every week.  The challenge was to make beautiful, appetizing meals that would entice my father-in-law, who is in hospice care, to eat.  This particular dish was beautiful to look at and delicious as well.  We were so excited because, for the first time in ages, he cleaned his plate!  If you don’t believe me, check this out.  

Yes, we were so excited, we actually took a picture!

Give this lovely tart a try and see if your family doesn’t clear their plates as well.

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached but normal flour will do.)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening (Crisco is my preferred but I have had to use butter in some countries where Crisco is not available. It works but the crust is not as flakey.)

2-3 tablespoons of cold water

For the filling:

3 medium onions

Olive oil

Sea salt

Pepper

1 1/2 oz or 40g pine nuts

8 oz or 225g mozzarella balls or bocconcini
10.5 oz or 300g red cherry tomatoes

10.5 oz or 300g yellow cherry tomatoes

4 orange mini sweet peppers

Small bunch fresh thyme

Method

Put the flour, shortening and salt together in one bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the flour into the shortening until you have small crumbs.

Add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, blending with the tines of a fork, until the mixture forms a soft dough which can be rolled into a ball.  

Wrap the ball in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.

When you are ready to bake, either roll out the dough and fit your pan or, if you are at your mother-in-law’s and you don’t have a rolling pin, slice the dough into thin pieces.  

Lay them in the pan and quickly press them into a crust.  

Trim the edges with a sharp knife and turn the trimmed pieces over.  Press them in to make a nice even edge.  Cover with cling film and put it in the fridge until you are ready to bake.  (If baking immediately, you can skip this step.)  If you are using a ceramic pie plate or casserole, take it out when you start preheating your oven so the ceramic dish can warm up a little.  Some dishes cannot safely go directly from the refrigerator to the oven. 

Okay, ready to bake?  Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Slice your onions thinly and put them into a small pot with a good drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the onions down slowly over a medium heat until they caramelize and are nicely browned.  Stir frequently and make sure not to let them burn.  Set aside to cool.

Cut your sweet peppers into pieces about the same size as the cherry tomatoes.  

Toast your pine nuts in a small skillet over a medium flame.  

Shake the skillet often to keep them toasting evenly.  This should take just a few minutes.  Be careful not to let them burn.  Set aside to cool. 

Pull the leaves off of all but a few of the thyme stems, reserving some of the thinner stems for adding in whole, with leaves, before baking.

In a big bowl, start to assemble your tart filling.  Add in the cherry tomatoes, cut peppers and mozzarella balls.

Sprinkle liberally with the thyme leaves and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the cooled caramelized onions and stir thoroughly.   

Pour the filling into the pie shell.  

Top with the reserved thyme and the pine nuts.

Bake the tart for 45-50 minutes or until the crust is crispy and browned and the mozzarella balls are melted completely.

This is a great vegetarian main course but would also be delicious served in smaller slices with grilled chicken or salmon.  I served it with poached salmon with creamy caper onion sauce on a bed of mixed greens. 

Enjoy!

This post is part of the improv cooking challenge,  brainchild of Kristen at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker.   Perhaps you’d like to join us?