Making your pull-apart in a cast-iron pan means it can be easily transported and warmed on the fire before devouring. A word of warning, this won’t last long!

Recipes, styling & photos Emma Boyd

Serves Approx. 16, Prep Time 30 minutes + overnight to prove the bread, Cook Time 35 minutes

135 g active sourdough starter

500 ml warm water

12 g sea salt

650 g high-grade flour

125 g butter, softened (you want it nice and soft and spreadable)

½ cup parsley, finely chopped

3 large cloves garlic, minced

100 g Colby cheese, coarsely grated

40 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

 

 

Around lunchtime the day before you want to bake, in a large bowl whisk together the starter and the water. Add in the sea salt and the flour and mix until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes before performing your first stretch and fold*. Over the next 3–4 hours perform 4 or so more stretch and folds until your dough has doubled in volume and is puffy with visible air bubbles in it. At this stage it is ready to move on to the next step. If your kitchen is cold this process might take another couple of hours.

Lightly flour a clean work bench then tip the dough out onto it. Form it into a rectangle then roll that rectangle out until it measures roughly 500 x 250 mm. In a small bowl mix together the butter, parsley and garlic. Dot this mixture over the dough and then spread it across, making sure to get right out to the edges. Scatter with two thirds of the cheese, reserving the remainder to scatter on top before baking.

Using a dough knife, cut the dough in two lengthways so that you have two long strips. Then cut these strips into roughly 8 pieces so that you have 16 in total. Grease either an oven-proof enamel frying pan or a square cake or slice tin. Roll each piece of dough up and arrange in the pan/tin. Put inside a large plastic bag and into the fridge to prove overnight. Make sure your fridge isn’t too cold, 6°C is a good setting to have it on.

In the morning preheat the oven to 230°C. Check that your dough has again roughly doubled in size. If not, leave on the bench at room temperature to further prove before cooking. Once the dough has doubled in size, scatter with the remaining cheese, drizzle with some olive oil, put into the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool a bit before serving.

*To stretch and fold your dough: using wet hands, scoop your hand down the side of the bowl and under your dough, then pull it up as high as it will stretch, then fold it across the bulk of the dough. Turn the bowl a quarter-turn and repeat this action so that you’ve done it 4 times. Cover the bowl again with your tea towel and leave for approximately an hour before repeating again.