Russian Leek and Cheese Bread

A tasty filling bread that can be easily modified to suit your tastes. Goes together fast and looks pretty on a table.

Ingredients:
Dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups sour cream
Egg wash
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

Filling:
3 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. Babybell Gouda (Original Recipe: 4 oz. soft goat cheese)
4 oz. ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped leeks
salt and pepper to taste

Servings: 2 6x6 breads

Instructions:
Melt butter in a saucepan and add in the chopped leeks. Cook for a few minutes till leeks become soft. Set aside.

Place the three cheeses into a bowl and add in the cooked leeks. Mix till leeks are well blended and cheese is smooth. Add in a little salt and fresh ground pepper. Set aside.

To make the dough mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder to a large bowl till well combined. Make a well in the center and add the sour cream. Mix with a wooden spoon till just mixed. Now, switch to your hand and mix the dough, till it comes together. Pour out onto a lightly floured surface and begin to knead for 5 minutes. This will help the dough to become smooth. Once the dough becomes smooth allow to rest for 5 minutes. Alternately you can do all this in your KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook.

Sprinkle a little flour onto a flat surface, and cut the dough ball roughly in half. Working with half the dough at a time, roll out the dough into a 12 inch circle. Now, add half the cheese mixture into the center of the circle. Spread the cheese mixture out to a 10x10 inch square. Fold over one side of the dough over the cheese mixture. Use a pastry brush to remove any flour from the top of the dough. Fold over the next side and brush off the flour. Continue with the other sides till you create a square.

Repeat with the second half of the bread and reserved cheese.

Place the bread onto a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with cornmeal. Mix the egg wash together and brush the top and sides of the dough. Place into a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:

Recipe From: http://www.cookingbread.com/classes/class_russian_leek_bread.html

I made this for Supper Club's Russian Night and thought it came out fairly well considering I could not get goat cheese. After subbing in the soft gouda, I think you could really use any softish semi-strong cheese in this recipe and it would turn out fairly well. I would also recommend adding in some garlic (I was making a traditional recipe or I would have added it!). I think 2-6 cloves, depending on your love of garlic, would have really perked this up a bit.

As the recipe stands now, I found the bread a bit lack luster, but very easy to make. I think next time I will try a pizza crust bread instead and see how things comes out. All in all still a great and easy recipe but an improvement in the bread department would not be amiss!