As an antidote to all these sweet cakes I've been baking, I wanted to make a substantial bread stuffed with choice antipasto flavours. Jamie Oliver's basic bread recipe is easy, and you can fill with whatever vegetables or meat you fancy. He uses 1 kg of flour and it makes a huge loaf! So you can halve the recipe if you don't need to feed a crowd.

1 kg flour

625 ml tepid water

3 x 7 g sachets dried yeast / 30 g fresh yeast

2 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

Filling:

8 boiled eggs

300 g cheese, grated (I used Parmesan and Edam)

handful of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

handful of kalamata olives, pitted and halved

3 roasted red peppers, quartered

handful of basil

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Pile the flour on your work surface. Make a well in the middle and pour in half the water, then add the yeast, salt and sugar. Stir with a fork.

Bring in the flour from the sides of your pile into the centre and mix in the water, careful not to break the walls. Once you have a gooey consistency, add in the remaining water. and mix in to make a shaggy dough. 

Flour your hands and start kneading the dough for about 5 minutes until silky and elastic.

Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, Sprinkle with flour, cover and leave to rise for about an hour until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough and knead for 30 seconds on a floured surface. Shape into a long rectangle about 80-90 cm long and 20 cm wide. Along the middle of your dough, evenly lay out the eggs, cheese, tomatoes, olives, peppers and basil. Drizzle with olive oil and season.

Pull the dough over the filling so it forms a roll, pinching the edges together. Form into a circle and pinch the two ends together securely to make a donut shape.

Transfer to a floured baking tray, dust with flour and leave to prove for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180C. Bake for 35 minutes until golden brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Eat warm or at room temperature. 

Ideal to take to a picnic where you can slice it up when you get there.