Sundried Tomato Basil Bread Rolls ~ cooking hot au

Sundried Tomato Basil Bread Rolls... I have been meaning to make a tomato bread for a while now. We had the most delicious tomato bread, while dining at the Gordon Ramsay at Powerscourt in Ireland. When we sat down at the table, we were served with this wonderful bread basket. It was filled with a variety of breads....about 4 or 5 different breads. Each one just as delicious and yet so different. I just fell in love with the tomato bread...it was so unique and soooo fluffy! Soft and buttery... it left its mark on me. This recipe is my quite feeble attempt at duplicating it. My very own recipe! I admit it is not the same as the one I had at the restaurant. But I tried...Actually it's quite funny, but when I make my own recipe, I want to add some wholesome goodness to it, otherwise I sort of feel guilty about it. Well, not always:). There are some recipes that just aren't the same when you add whole grains to it. But with this one, I thought I could camouflage some whole wheat in it somehow, at least so you wouldn't be able to tell. The tomato color hides the brownish tinge that the whole wheat imparts. So because I wanted to bring in a bit of whole wheat flour, the original intention sort of went out the window! But I did add some sundried tomatoes and basil to the bread, hoping to bring in a ton of flavor and make it worthwhile. Well, I think it did...we really liked this version. Love tomato with basil. It would be such a wonderful and different addition to any bread basket. Lovely to make sandwiches out of, or serve as an accompaniment to a soup/chowder. Don't get me wrong, I still want to make that buttery, light and fluffy version...who knows, I might be back with a revised version in the future:). For now, I will post this recipe...not only because we liked it, but because it is worth making again. Hope you enjoy!...

You will need:

2 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

1 TBS sugar

1 TBS olive oil

1 cup warm water(110 deg)*

2 TBS tomato paste(you can use only 1 TBS if you like...but tomatoes have good stuff for us)*

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 TBS basil,dried (you can cut down on the amount, if you don't care for too much basil)

1 egg, beaten

*you can also use tomato juice instead of the water and tomato paste~just make sure you have 1 cup total tomato juice, of course warmed)

Directions:

In a measuring cup, add very warm water and stir in tomato paste, oil, and sugar, Stir until the tomato paste dissolves...basically,just make sure it is combined. Set aside. The water will cool down a bit as it sits. Just make sure it is still warm when you need it later(about 110 degs).

In the mixer bowl, add 1 cup bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour, salt, basil and instant yeast.

Stir to combine.

Add the tomato water( if it is too cool, just reheat till about 110-115 degs.) and knead for 1 minute till very smooth. Add the additional 1 cup bread flour and knead for 5 minutes.