BBB: Asparagus Bread

Have you ever seen those commercials or dramatizations where someone is "cleaning" their house by stuffing everything into the closet? And then they close the door, turn away, and the closet just explodes, scattering its contents everywhere. Well, I think that mental image you currently have is pretty close to what happened when I made this month's Bread Baking Babes selection. After making up the basic dough, kneading it and letting it rest, you're supposed to work in asparagus, rocket (I used spinach), walnuts, and parmesan. Um, yeah, about that....

Part of the problem might have been me - I was pretty lax about measuring the add-ins. But the moisture of them didn't help! My lovely soft and supple dough turned into this tacky slimy mass, with asparagus popping out at the most inopportune times! Then you had jagged walnut pieces tearing through, and wilted spinach just making it a party by adding all of its lovely moisture to the dough. Yeesh! I felt like I was wrestling with it!


Now that I've made it though, I think I probably could have done a couple things differently. Measuring the add-ins would have ensured I didn't try to stuff too much in. The spinach and asparagus should have been squeezed and dried as much as possible to keep from messing with the hydration too much. Oh, and I liked Nancy's idea of just rolling them in like you would a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. That would have required waiting until the shaping step, but might have reduced the cursing involved in putting the initial dough together. After tasting, I'd also probably only gently steam the asparagus prior to mixing the dough, if I even cooked them at all. They were slightly mushy after 45 min in the oven, and I'd have liked a bit more of a bite to them.

Even with the difficulties, this ended up being a wonderful bread. I loved the swirl of purple from the walnuts, and the flavor from the overnight fermentation was absolutely wonderful. The bread itself is amazingly soft and supple - the perfect sandwich bread, if you take out all the vegetables! I'll give the approximate amounts and method for my version, as it deviated slightly from Lien's original recipe, taking into account the changes I would make. Thank you to Lien and the rest of the Bread Baking Babes for letting me bake with you this month!


Asparagus Bread (adapted from Lien)
makes one small loaf

3 stalks asparagus
1/2 cup baby spinach
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp Parmesan
200 g AP flour
3/4 tsp instant yeast
125 g water
10 g olive oil
5 g kosher salt

Measure the flour and yeast into a medium bowl. Mix in 100g of the water, kneading for a few minutes. Add the olive oil and knead another 5-7 minutes. Add the salt and knead for another 5-7 minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

While the dough is resting, chop the asparagus into 1/4" pieces. Coarsely chop the spinach and grate the parmesan. When the dough is done resting, press it out into a rectangle and spread the asparagus, spinach, and walnuts over it. Roll the dough like you would for cinnamon swirl bread. Let it sit for a few minutes, then flatten it and fold it over in a letter fold. Let it sit a few minutes and flatten and fold again. If you think it needs it, flatten and fold another time or two.

Let the bread rise for about one hour, then put in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours. Take it out after that time and shape it however you'd like (I went with a boule, but the original calls for a batard or torpedo shape). Place the loaf on a parchment lined cookie sheet and allow it to proof for 1-1.5 hours.

Preheat oven to 450*F.

Place bread (still on the baking sheet) in the oven and allow it to bake for 5-10 minutes at 450* before turning the temperature down to 400*F. Continue to bake for a total of 40-45 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.