Email to Cat      

Bread Bowls

Source of Recipe

From "Cook With Me" by Alex Guarnaschelli


Recipe Introduction

"Use these bread bowls for shrimp bisque (or another thick soup), for sandwiches (especially egg sandwiches), cheese platters, or as bread for a smoked salmon tartine. More simply, bake them to serve as a great loaf alongside stew or soup. The cottage cheese and touch of caraway give this bread a hearty texture and a great layered flavor. Reserve the interior of the bread to dry for bread crumbs."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
â—¦ 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ 3 cups bread flour
â—¦ 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
â—¦ 3 tablespoons honey
â—¦ 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
â—¦ 1 tablespoon kosher salt
â—¦ 1 cup whole-milk cottage cheese
â—¦ 1 large egg


Recipe

In a medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of warm water (between 110° to 120° F). Set the bowl aside until the yeast bubbles and froths a little, 5 to 10 minutes.

Oil a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and set it aside (the oil prevents the dough from sticking to the sides of the bowl as it rises). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, caraway seeds, honey, molasses, and salt and mix on low speed until blended. Blend in the cottage cheese and the egg, then add the yeast mixture and mix until the dough starts to form a ball, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and set it in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 ½ to 2 hours. Gently push the air out of the dough, cover, and let it rise again, 1 more hour.

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Arrange oven racks in the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Grease two sheet pans with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, shape them into balls, and place 4 balls on each sheet pan. Flatten the balls gently with your hand.

Place the sheet pans on the oven racks, immediately reduce the oven temperature to 350° F, and bake, undisturbed, until the tops are light to medium brown, 20 to 25 minutes. The interior of the bread should register 185° to 190° F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the pans from the oven; keep the oven on. Allow the rolls to rest for at least 30 minutes before turning them into bread bowls.

Slice off the tops of the rolls and set them aside. Carefully hollow out the center of each roll to make a bread bowl. Place the hollowed-out bowls and sliced-off tops on the sheet pans and bake for 5 to 10 minutes to firm the texture. Remove them from the oven and fill each bowl with about 1 cup of soup. Top each bowl with the roll's top and serve.

Makes 8 bread bowls