Soft Pesto Rolls

A good special occasion or weekend recipe that doesn’t need much active time, these pesto rolls are made with a simple soft enriched dough and filled with any pesto you’d like. Try adding extras, like cheese or dried tomatoes, to the filling if you’d like. These make a wonderful side for summer soup and other seasonal mains, but can be made year round with jarred pesto.

Fill these buns with any pesto you’d like, basil or otherwise. Try classic dairy-free pesto, or go for carrot top pesto, garlic mustard pesto, or parsley pesto for a bit of a twist.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Flour: pictured is with light spelt flour, but plain white all-purpose flour can be substituted. Use up to half whole-grain flour for a more nutritious option.
• Milk: any type of milk can be used. I always use oat milk, but any non-dairy (apart from coconut) or dairy milk will work.
• Yeast: fresh or dry, traditional or quick, it doesn’t matter. If using instant yeast, it can be mixed in with the dry ingredients and the blooming step skipped.
• Honey: use maple syrup or sugar for a fully vegan option.
• Pesto: any type of green pesto can be used here, either homemade or store-bought.
• Add-ins: a handful of grated cheese, finely chopped dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic would all be good, but many different additions could be sprinkled over the filling.

Step by Step

Step 1: mix the milk, honey, and yeast, then set aside to bloom. Whisk in the olive oil.

Step 2: add the flour and salt, then mix until a rough dough forms.

Step 3: knead by hand or with a mixer until smooth and elastic.

Step 4: set aside to rise until doubled in size.

Step 5: roll the dough out into a large rectangle and cover evenly in pesto.

Step 6: roll up into a spiral and cut into 12 rolls, placing into a greased baking dish.

Step 7: set aside to rise again until puffy, about 20 minutes.

Step 8: bake until lightly golden and serve warm.

Recipe Notes

These are very much like a classic soft bun – think grandmother’s rolls at a holiday gathering – but with a pesto filling. They make for a nice slightly alternative option at a holiday table and aren’t much more work than plain yeast buns. Think cinnamon rolls, but with a savoury filling.

I had one extra little bun this time, so I tried steaming it in a low canning jar and it worked well! I don’t have a bamboo steamer so haven’t tried them in that, but these can be steamed for about 10 minutes for very soft, light buns.

The dough is fairly soft, so be sure to use enough flour when rolling out the dough and that the surface is evenly floured to avoid sticking. You can also choose to lightly oil the work surface rather than using flour, but I’m not so fond of this method.

A decent hand mixer can be used to knead this dough with the dough attachments. Otherwise, knead by hand or use a stand mixer.

How to Store

Storage: these keep quite well for up to three days at room temperature. Store in a sealed container and note that they do start to dry out a bit over time.

Freezing: transfer the fully cooled rolls to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.

Expert Tips

• Don’t over-knead: this note is more for those who use spelt flour as called for in the recipe. It requires less kneading time than standard white flour because it is lower in gluten.
• Check your yeast: if you’re not sure the yeast is still viable, test a small amount in a bit of warm (not hot) water. It should bubble up after about ten minutes. If it doesn’t, you’ll need new yeast before starting this recipe.
• Keep yeast cold: both fresh and dried yeast should be stored in the refrigerator for the longest shelf life, and to make sure it’s reliable within the best-by date.
• Warm the pesto: if your pesto has been refrigerated, take it out beforehand to warm up for at least an hour at room temperature. It will be hard to spread evenly on the dough if it’s cold.

More Savoury Bread

Vegan Naan
Garlic Pizza Bread
Spelt Flour Buns
Spelt Pretzels