Perl Las and onion bread

“This stunning bread recipe features caramelised onions and Perl Las, which is a creamy, mild and salty Welsh blue cheese. Be sure to serve this dish hot, so that when you slice the cheese oozes out nicely.” Luke Nguyen, Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom

• makes

  1

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 500 g (3⅓ cups) stone-ground strong white bread flour, preferably organic
• 10 g fresh yeast or 7 g instant yeast
• 320 g warm water
• 1½ tbsp olive oil or melted butter
• 10 g salt (I use Halen Mon Welsh sea salt)
• 100 g Perl Las or other mild blue cheese, crumbled

Caramelised onion

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Proving time 2 hours

Instructions

To make the caramelised onion, heat the oil in a frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the onion, salt and sugar and cook, stirring regularly, for 30 minutes or until golden, soft and sweet. Add the vinegar and simmer for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and stand until cool. 

Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Put the yeast in the well, then pour in the warm water and leave for a few minutes or until foamy. Add the olive oil or melted butter, then combine until you have a soft, sticky dough. Turn the dough out an un-floured work surface, sprinkle over the salt and knead for 8 minutes or until elastic. Stretch the dough into a rough circle about the size of a dinner plate, then scatter the crumbled cheese and the cooled onions over the middle. Using a pastry scraper, bring the sides of the dough up and over the cheese and onion and continue for another 2 minutes or until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Shape into a rough ball, place back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or as Elizabeth does, cover it with a shower cap! Set aside in a warm place to prove for one hour or until doubled in size.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Working quickly, shape the dough into a rectangle. Gently stretch all four corners into the centre, overlapping the corners as you go. Gently cup the long side in your hands, then roll the dough over into a log, with the seam on the bottom, pushing about half the air out of the risen dough as you do this. Place in a greased 25 cm x 13 cm baking tin, cover again and prove for another hour.

Preheat the oven to its highest setting or around 230ºC–240ºC. 

Carefully flip the dough out onto a baking paper-lined tray. Using a sharp knife, slash a line in the top of the loaf, then spray lightly with water. This helps create a nice crust by steaming the bread and preventing it from burning. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 220ºC and bake for another 20 minutes or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Serve hot. 

Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom starts Thursday 14 May 2015 at 8pm on SBS ONE and finishes 2 July 2015. Visit the Luke Nguyen's United Kingdom website to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes or find out more about the show.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.