savoury filled zopf with goats cheese

i have this thing for goats cheese. not the stinky one. no! i am talking about the creamy, soft and nice stuff. one day (yes, must have been after a long night out...) i felt like a savoury bread for breakfast. so i invented the savoury filled zopf with goats cheese. i added some ham & sundried tomatoes - but you can adjust the recipe just the way you like it best (no long night out required...). a basic recipe (minus the vanilla pod!) and a "how to" for zopf you will find right here.


1kg white (zopf)flour
40g fresh yeast
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
5 dl milk
2 eggs, whisked
160g cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons of fresh tyhme, finely chopped

filling:
6 slices of ham (or bresoala)
5-6 sundried tomatoes, finely diced
150g soft goats cheese (spreadable)
a hand full of grated parmesan

1 egg mixed, to brush


mix the flour with the sugar and salt in a bowl. mix yeast with the milk and add with thyme & eggs. form into a dough and knead well (best done with your stand mixer) until soft. slowly add butter and knead until dough is silky and soft. cover and let rest for about an hour until it has doubled in size.

heat the oven to 220 c°,
cut dough in half and roll each into a 60 x 20 cm long rectangle. spread with the goats cheese, coat with the ham, sprinkle the suntried tomatoes on top and finish with the grated parmesan. roll each rectangle into a log and pull a little, so you get kind of a "long rope". loop / wrap each rope around the other and form a wreath. put on a tray with some baking paper and let rest for about half an hour. then glaze with the egg.

bake in the hot oven for about 35 minutes (ev. add some underheat for the last 10 minutes, you want the bottom to be supercrisp and nice.).
slice open and serve when still warm.