Baked Brie: Stuffed Wholemeal Loaf

Let's feed an army! An army of ex-lightweight rowers, that is.

This recipe was inspired by this good looking thang.

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The Loaf

600g wholemeal flour (+ extra for kneading)
2 cups water
Dash salt
1 tablespoon runny honey
2 tablespoons good quality virgin olive oil

The Extras

400g new potatoes, boiled & peeled
250g lean bacon, chopped
175g extra mature cheddar, shredded
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
450ml creme fraiche (I used 50% fat)

Follow the usual dough preparation, which you can find in one of my original posts: here. Since it's a wholemeal loaf, it will take longer for the yeast to do its job, so cover it with oiled cling wrap and let it rise for at least 2-3 hours in a warm place. This thing will become massive.

Punch down the dough, just to get rid of the excess air bubbles. Take a little less than half of the dough and roll it out to a nice circle, about as big as a 9" pie pan. Again, I don't play the 'rolling pin' game - just use your hands to push/pull/punch the dough into your shape. Gives it way better texture, anyway.

Place this circle in your oiled and lightly floured pie pan. Let it rest while you bring a big pan of water to a boil. Plop in your 500g of new potatoes and let 'em go for 10ish minutes or until they're tender enough to get pricked by a fork. Drain and let them cool in a colander before you peel them.

While they're cooling, mix your creme fraiche, cheddar and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Season well with salt & pepper.

NOW WE LAYER!

Leaving a 2" border around the bottom, layer the ingredients (in this order) onto your bread base:

Diced, peeled potatoes
1/2 of the creme fraiche mixture
Spring onions
Chopped bacon
Other 1/2 of creme fraiche mixture

Note: I didn't end up using all of the creme fraiche mixture.

Roll/punch/shape out the rest of your dough. Obviously it will need to be a bit bigger than your base, so you can crimp the edges and make sure nothing leaks out. Brush the outside edges of this half with water, and lay that side face down on your pie. Trim off the excess, pinch the edges and then crimp with a fork. "Crimping with a fork" = shove the pointy bit of the fork down around the edge to seal the top and bottom together.