Mozzarella Spelt Bread with Red Onion

This delicious mozzarella spelt bread has beautifully soft dough and is filled with melted mozzarella and red onion. The dough can be prepared in a bread machine or stand mixer, and you can use all-purpose or spelt flour.

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There really isn’t anything else that quite compares to homemade bread.

The waft as it bakes is truly one of the most comforting aromas going. Literally as I write this I have some coffee overnight buns in the oven, and it’s just lovely.

I particularly like making bread in the winter months, pairing it with a warming, filling soup. There’s a sense of cosiness when, as the night draws in, you light a few candles, and lift a deliciously hot loaf from the oven.

I would have loved the bygone days, when the kitchen was the true hub of a household. A huge aga taking centre stage with a roaring fire close by. How dreamy does that sound?

Anyway, let’s put my daydreaming to bed and concentrate on reality. The beauty that is this home-baked spelt bread. Bread is wonderful on its own, but with some red onion and mozzarella? Then you’re in a whole new realm of awesomeness.

Making dough in a bread machine

The dough was made in a bread machine, but the recipe has been adapted so that you can use a stand mixer (or by hand, if you prefer). I do go through phases of using my bread machine, but it’s usually only to make dough. I am not overly keen on the loaves it produces; they are often a little dry. Plus, I prefer to keep an eye on my baking bread. For dough, though? Perfect.

You can throw all the ingredients in, set the machine to work, and go off and do something else for 90 minutes. I like that it kneads dough (which I hate) and proofs it in a controlled environment. If you have considered buy a bread maker, but you’re still undecided, Salad in a Jar has written an informative article on how bread machines work (and why you need to buy one).

Other bread machine dough recipes

The dough my machine produces is always so soft, filled with wonderful air bubbles, and I use it to make all kinds of bread recipes. Here are some of my favourites:

Can you use a substitute for mozzarella?

Yes, you could use any kind of cheese. I went for mozzarella primarily because we always have grated mozzarella in our fridge. Not only that, it is such a lovely, stretchy and stringing cheese, so it’s perfect in the middle of bread like this. I often use cheddar, so a nice strong cheese would work well. Just use whatever you have on hand. What’s great about this recipe is that you can use as little or as much cheese as you like. It’s highly adaptable to make suiting your own preferences.

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Mozzarella Spelt Bread with Red Onion

This delicious bread machine mozzarella spelt bread recipe has beautifully soft dough and is filled with melted mozzarella and red onion.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine British

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

2 30

Total Time 35

Ingredients

Dough (see note 1)

1 egg (medium)
2 tbs olive oil
200ml (⅚ cup) milk
50g (¼ cup) butter (cold and chopped)
400-450g (3⅓ - 3¾ cups) flour (see note 2)
7g (2¼ tsp) dried yeast (see note 3)
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt

Filling:

1 small red onion sliced (keep a couple of slices for the top)
100-200g (3½ - 7 oz) grated mozzarella (use as much as you like)
2 tbs butter (melted)

Topping:

couple of red onion slices
sea salt

Instructions

Bread Machine:

Add the egg, olive oil, milk and butter to your bread machine pan.
Then add 400g (3⅓ cups) flour and the remaining dry ingredients, taking care to keep the yeast and salt separate as much as possible.
Set your machine to make dough.
On a very well-floured surface (the dough will be very sticky) work in just as much flour as you need to make a soft, pliable, but still a little tacky, dough.

Stand Mixer:

Add the egg, olive oil, milk and butter to your stand mixer bowl, and quickly mix together. If the butter is straight out of the fridge, it won't combine with the other wet ingredients too much, but that's okay.
Add 450g (3¾ cups) flour and the remaining dough ingredients. The dough should be sticky, but if you need more flour, just add a little at a time. Be careful: too much flour will result in dry bread.
Switch to a dough hook (if you have one) and allow the mixer to knead the dough for around 10 minutes, just until soft. The dough will still feel a little tacky to the touch, but will be able to slowly drop off the hook.
Cover the dough and leave to proof (until it has doubled in size - usually about an hour).
When the dough is ready, knock back and knead quickly, just until a rough ball forms.

Both Methods:

Grease a baking tin well with butter or oil (mine is just a little larger than 8 x 8 inches).
When the dough is ready, divide it into two.
Roll out the first half into a rough rectangle/square shape and place in the prepared tin.
With your fingers, push and ease the dough towards the corners. It will fight you a little and pull back, but if it is unmanageable, cover it and leave it to rest for around ten minutes.
Melt your butter and spread around ¾ of it over the dough in the baking tin.
Slice your onions finely and place all over the butter (retain several slices to place on the top of the bread and also a little butter).
Sprinkle with as little or as much cheese as you like.
Take the second half of the dough and roll out into the shape of your tin. You will need to roll this one a little more as you are not able to just push it into shape in the pan.
Place on top and gently smooth to the edges until it totally covers the bottom half. Pinch the edges a little so that the top attaches to the bottom half.
Spread over the butter you have left and arrange the remaining onion slices. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt.
Cover with a tea-towel or cloth and leave to rest for around 30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF).
Bake until the bread is beautifully brown (around 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your tin). If it starts to colour a little too much, just cover it with some foil.
Take out of the oven and allow to cool for a while.
Remove from the pan, slice and serve warm with your favourite soup. Enjoy!

Notes

I have converted grams and milliliters to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

I have made the dough using both a stand mixer and bread machine, but I have not made it by hand.
You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid to proof and also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe instant yeast is the most similar for the purpose of making this particular bread.