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–+ servings
Slices of nettle pesto bread on plates
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Nettle Pesto Bread

This Nettle Pesto Bread features a vibrant green swirl of wild nettle pesto, baked into a rich, tender loaf.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Proofing Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 1 loaf
Author: Karie

Equipment

  • 9x5 inch loaf pan
  • Food processor
  • Stand mixer with hook attachment

Ingredients

Nettle Pesto

  • 1 cup blanched nettles (see notes)
  • ¼ cup walnuts toasted
  • ¼ cup parmesan grated
  • 1 large clove garlic chopped
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 pinch each salt & pepper
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Bread

  • 1 cup warm water (about 100° F)
  • ¼ cup warm milk (about 100° F)
  • 2 ounces unsalted butter melted
  • 1 ounce sourdough discard optional
  • 1 pound 4 ounces bread flour
  • 2 ounces all purpose flour
  • 1.75 ounces brown sugar
  • 13 grams salt
  • 1 package active dry yeast

Filling

  • 1 cup parmesan grated

Instructions

For the pesto:

  • Add walnuts to a food processor and pulse a few times to break them into smaller pieces.
  • Add blanched nettles, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest & juice, and salt & pepper. Blend until everything is well combined and nettles are well broken down. Stop blending and scrape down the sides of the food processor as necessary so that everything gets thoroughly mixed together.
  • With mixer running, slowly drizzle in olive oil and continue blending until you have a nice smooth paste. Scrape pesto out of food processor into a small bowl and set aside.

For the bread:

  • Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Turn heat off and add the milk and water to warm up slightly (you want it to be around 100° F). Add this mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Add sourdough discard, if using. Blend.
  • Add flours, brown sugar, salt, and yeast. Using the dough hook, mix on low to medium-low speed for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and shiny and doesn't stick to the bowl at all.
  • Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let rest until doubled in size, about 1 - 1.5 hours.
  • Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rough rectangle, about 12 x 16 inches. It doesn't need to be perfect.
  • Spoon nettle pesto onto dough and use the back of a spoon to spread it evenly over dough, leaving about an inch border around all the edges.
  • Sprinkle parmesan evenly over pesto.
  • Starting from one of the longer sides, roll dough up into a log, just like you would roll up a cinnamon roll. Try to keep it pretty tight! Pinch the seams together with your fingers, then flip the log over so the seam side is down.
  • Use a sharp chef's knife or bench scraper to cut the dough log in half vertically, keeping the top inch or two still intact.
  • Twist the two sides over each other, creating a simple braid. Tuck the end under.
  • Place braided bread carefully into a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rest until doubled in size (the bread will be about an inch above the lip of the pan at this point).
  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Bake until bread is golden brown on top and fully baked through, about 30-35 minutes. If the bread starts to get too brown on top at any point, you can cover it loosely with foil to prevent further browning.
  • Let bread cool for about 15 minutes before inverting and removing from pan. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Notes

Blanched nettles: I found that 6 cups of loosely packed fresh nettles made about 1 cup of cooked nettles. For instructions on blanching nettles, see the information in the article above.