Spanish Style Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Swirls

Manchego and sun-dried tomato paste are wrapped up in fluffy bread swirls to make these Spanish style Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Swirls. Perfectly savoury, cheesy, tomato-y and carby, these are awesome for parties or to serve as part of a Tapas style dinner. For variations, you could add olives, Serrano ham or fresh tomatoes to change it up.

The base of this recipe is a simple bread dough – this requires two 1 hour rises for perfectly soft dough. There is little ‘hands on’ time and they are super simple to make, just make them on a day where you can let the dough hang out a while. As with any dough, a warm environment is best. If you have a cold kitchen (like me), put your bowl of dough into a larger bowl of warm water. Alternatively place the bowl in the oven after heating it to 50C then turning it off before putting the dough in.

The ingredients should be available at any large supermarket. For the sun-dried tomato paste, you want to look near the Pesto or by the Tomato Paste/Puree. If you struggle to find it, you can sub for a sun-dried tomato pesto or similar. You can also replace the Manchego with another hard, strong cheese if you’d prefer.

For more savoury recipes check out these Spanakopita Empanadas or these Bombay Potato Puffs. For a video of these, and lots more recipe inspiration, head on over to my Instagram.

Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Swirls

Makes: About 12
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Bake Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 3 Hours (including proving)

Ingredients

• 450g Strong White Bread Flour
• 1 x 7g Sachet Fast Acting Yeast
• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
• 150g Manchego Cheese, Grated
• 90g Sun-dried Tomato Paste

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the olive oil and about 250ml warm (not hot) water. Either bring together by hand or with the dough hook attachment on a mixer. Once it comes together, add up to 50ml more water – until it comes together into a (slightly sticky) ball.
2. Knead for 8-10 minutes, then let rest in a lightly oiled bowl for 1 hour – 1h30m.
3. Once the dough has risen, punch down and put on a lightly floured surface. Roll to a rectangle about 40x30cm. Spread over the tomato paste and then sprinkle over the grated cheese.
4. From one of the longer sides, roll into a long tube. Try to keep this tight to prevent it falling apart.
5. Cut approx. 12 equal slices and place on a large lined baking sheet (spread slightly apart). Let rise 45 mins – 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Bake the swirls for 40-45 minutes, until golden and the cheese is beginning to look a little crisp. Let cool on a wire rack before serving.