Bacon Stuffed Baguette

I made this using the Pain d'Epi recipe for the bread but placed in strips of bacon when forming the dough into a log. Instead of cutting the dough with the scissors to form the wheat branch, I used a sharp, thin blade knife to score the top of the log. 

This baguette is good to eat on its own or dipped into good organic olive oil drizzled with some aged balsamic vinegar. It will go very well with a warm bowl of soup too. 

Bacon Stuffed Baguette

adapted from Lorraine Pascale's Home Cooking Made Easy

(make one 40 cm loaf)

Ingredients:

275g organic bread flour

2 tsp (11g) yeast 

1 tsp sea salt

175g low sodium, organic chicken stock, warmed to 40 degrees Celsius

1 Tbsp olive oil
4 strips of bacon

Steps to make:

By hand:

• Place the flour, salt and yeast into a large bowl. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add chicken stock until the dough just comes together. Stir in the olive oil.
• Flour your work surface and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. 

 OR using a bread machine or mixer with dough hook:

• Add all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and turn the machine to medium low speed to knead the dough for 8 min. 

After the dough is formed:

• Roll the dough out gently into a rectangular shape and lay the slices of bacon onto the center of the the dough. 
• Gather the dough into a tight ball so the top of dough is smooth and taut. Place it onto a floured baking sheet and form it into a long and thin baguette shape (how to form a baguette), thinner than usual as it will expand while it rises. 
• Cover the tray with lightly oiled cling film so it is airtight but not too tight so the dough has room to expand. Put in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
• Uncover the bread and sprinkle on some flour. Using a sharp, thin blade knife, score the top of the baguette.
• Spray some water into the oven with a bottle spray to create a steamy atmosphere. Put the dough into the oven. Bake until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom, about 25 - 30 minutes. 

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