Recipe: Savory Asiago, Apple & Rosemary Bread

Savory Asiago, Apple
and Rosemary Bread

Makes one 9x5-inch loaf

Try to restrain yourself when eating this loaf straight from the oven—you may wind up devouring the whole thing in one sitting! This is a savory loaf—not a sweet one—so I use tart Gravenstein apples in it, but use whatever apples you prefer. To speed up the prep, use the shredding disk of a food processor to shred the cold butter, Asiago cheese, and apples, in that order. Also, don't bother peeling the apples. You won't notice the peel after they've been shredded, and you'll benefit from the added nutrients that lie just under the skin.

Remember that the apples and rosemary in this bread can help induce relaxation and calmness by raising the levels of serotonin in your brain. Enjoying this bread is what I call a "de-stressing experience."

Ingredients:

3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold, hard butter (1/2 stick), shredded
4 ounces shredded Asiago cheese (or cheddar), divided
1 pound (about 4 or 5) apples, cored and shredded
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 large eggs, beaten

Topping (optional):
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves (not chopped)
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese (reserved from ingredients above)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Using your fingers, mix the shredded butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Reserve 1/4 cup shredded cheese for the topping and set aside.

Mix the remaining cheese, the shredded apple, and the rosemary into the flour mixture. Stir in the eggs until the batter is evenly blended. The batter will be thick and dense.

Fill the pan with the batter. Bake 1 hour. Mix together the topping ingredients. Spread the topping ingredients over the loaf and bake until a skewer inserted in the loaf comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the loaf rest in the pan 10 minutes, then unmold the load and let cool on a wire rack.