Tomato Basil Bread

Sweet Tomato-Basil Bread

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs

5 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons basil puree or prepared pesto

2 teaspoons yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 3/4 cups flour + ~2 tablespoons for flouring surface

Streusel topping

1 tablespoon room-temperature butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoons brown sugar

pinch of coarse salt

1. Melt your butter on the stovetop and then add the milk, water, tomato paste, and basil puree (or prepared pesto). Mix and heat until warm to the touch but not hot. (You should be able to submerge your fingertip in it comfortably.)
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with a dough hook), combine 3 1/4 cups of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Mix together just to combine.
3. Whisk in the eggs with the warmed liquid ingredients in the pan. Then add the whole dark, lovely mixture into the dry ingredients in your mixer bowl.
4. Slowly crank up your stand mixer to beat the dough until it holds together and looks homogenous. Slow the mixer and add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, a little at a time, just until it forms a loose, sticky ball.
5. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for 2-4 hours, until doubled. It will smooth out and become more elastic during this time.
   

   

    

    

6. Turn it out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, just until the dough feels smooth and un-sticky. (My mom has always said that bread dough will tell you when it has had enough because it will develop a smooth, powdery skin. Some kinds of bread–the ones that don’t include fat–need a sticky, wet dough in order to produce a moist, chewy center when they are baked. But this one is like the bread my mom has always made insofar as it has plenty of sugar and fat in it. So follow Mom’s advice: Knead it until it’s not sticky. Shoot for the thin, powdery skin. It will still be moist and lovely inside. I promise.)
7. Divide it into two parts and place the parts into two lightly buttered loaf pans. Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and allow it to rise for another 60-90 minutes.
   

   
8. Just before baking, use a fork to mix together the streusel ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle the streusel over the unbaked bread dough.
9. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and the interior temperature reaches 200 degrees.
   

   
10. Allow to cool very slightly before slicing. Then go ahead: butter it. Why the heck not?