Recently, I've been making naan to go with our daily lunch salads. Its a simple flat bread, a little thicker than pita. Great for wiping up extra salad dressing and cheese bits. We had some pesto getting close the end of its shelf life and I wanted to use it up. In this recipe I substituted olive oil for pesto. I had hopes it would turn the bread a greenish hue; but it didn't. The end result: absolutely fantastic, aromatic flat bread that is excellent with pesto (duh), vinaigrette, olive oil, salad dressing, you name it!
Adapted from CanuckCuisine
1 tsp of active dry yeast
1 cup of whole cream heated to 115-117 degrees F
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp pink salt
2.5 cups bread flour or white wheat
3 tsp vital wheat gluten
1/2 cup pesto
Proof the yeast in the sugary milk to it get a nice foamy cap. Combine the dry ingredients and stir together until uniformly mixed. Pour in yeasty, sugary milk. Still well. Let sit covered for 10 mins for autolysis. I like to clean up during this time. Then come back and kneed bread until well combined. Dough should be post-it note tackiness. In a well oiled bowl, preferably glass, allow to rise for 1 hour. Then punch dough down and divide into 8-10 balls. Flatten dough into "pancake" shape. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake on preheated, oiled pizza stone or ceramic tile for 3 mins/side. Flip and repeat. When naan is golden tan, remove and allow to cool. Feast away!
