Zucchini and goat cheese bread

Zucchini takes center stage in this skillet bread recipe – zucchini bread becomes a staple recipe once you’ve made it just once. Zucchini gives the bread plenty of juiciness, while goat cheese adds depth. You have to try it!

Before baking the bread, it is very important to brush it well with oil: when putting it in the oven, the oil will help to toast the crust well and achieve a "crunchy" effect which, in contrast to the spongy body, makes each bite wonderful.

As for baking, in this case we use the tall skillet to bake this bread, since it is a perfect mold for it: being made of iron, it quickly reaches a high temperature and cooks the dough from the base, penetrating the body of the bread and achieving spectacular results.

I hope you'll be encouraged to try it!

Le Creuset high skillet pan

Ingredients

• 700 ml of cold water
• 20 g fresh yeast
• 900 g of wheat flour
• 100 g whole wheat flour
• 20 g of salt
• 1 large green zucchini (or one small green and one small yellow)
• Olive oil
• 100 g goat cheese (soft or in rolls)
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme (or oregano if necessary)
• Salt for seasoning
• Black pepper

Elaboration

1. In a bowl, pour the water and add the yeast and stir until dissolved.
2. In the bowl of the KitchenAid mixer , add the flours and 20 g of salt, and turn on the paddle attachment at low speed. Add the water with the yeast and knead at medium speed for 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Cover with a cotton cloth and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then, knead again for 5 more minutes, let it rest again and knead again for 5 more minutes.
4. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and allow the dough to rise and double in size, covered with a cloth in a warm place (I leave the bowl covered with a damp cloth in the oven, but after having preheated the oven to 45 ºC for a few minutes).
5. Wet your hands and turn the dough. Allow the dough to rise again.
6. Preheat the oven to 210°C.
7. Grease the Le Creuset deep skillet with a little oil using kitchen paper or a pastry brush. Place the dough in the skillet.
8. Cut the courgettes into 1cm thick slices and toss them with 1 tbsp olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.
9. Add the zucchini slices to the dough, pressing them into the dough, spacing them 1cm apart. Let the dough rise for 30-40 minutes, then push the zucchini pieces into the dough.
10. Crumble the goat cheese and spread it over the surface of the dough.
11. Sprinkle with thyme and flaky salt* and drizzle with a little oil.
12. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and you can test the inside with a toothpick.

Grades

• If you want, you can peel the zucchini so that the green parts are not visible - it will not be a very colorful or pretty bread, but if the little ones in the house have to eat it, they sometimes appreciate not seeing the green, and eat vegetables without complaining.
• If you want the zucchini to be thinner or almost fall apart, simply cut it very thinly, as it will lose body when baked.
• You can add the flaky salt and thyme before baking, although I personally prefer to do it after removing the pan from the oven.
• If you prefer, during the second rising, fold the goat cheese into the dough, making several folds and creases, leaving the crumbled goat cheese inside the folds. Then, let it rise again.
• Instead of thyme, you can use oregano, which also suits it very well.
• Serve it as an appetizer, your guests will enjoy it, or make it a perfect dinner with a good ham, you won't need anything else.