Gouda Pesto Swirls

Happy September, friends! In this recipe I bring you one of my absolute favorite summer-fall bridge recipes: cheesy pesto swirls. You truly can’t go wrong with this one! I used Cabot Creamery’s Gouda, and a homemade batch of pesto (but you can use any pesto). I hope you enjoy this one, and savor these last days of summer!

**For the dough:**

500g all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for dusting
12g salt
245g warm milk
1 tbsp honey
7g (1 packet) yeast
2 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
**For the Filling:**
8oz Cabot Creamery Gouda, grated
1 cup pesto or green sauce

In a large mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine the flour and salt. If using instant yeast, mix that in as well. Dissolve the honey in the warm milk.
If using active dry yeast, whisk it into the warm milk-honey in a large measuring cup or another bowl; let the yeast dissolve and sit for a few minutes (it may or may get foamy - just make sure it dissolves).
Add the milk-honey (or milk-yeast-honey mixture) to the dry ingredients along with the melted butter and beaten eggs. Mix everything together using a wooden spatula until there are no dry bits of flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 15 minutes.
Perform a round of stretch and folds, making your way around the dough until you have a smooth ball.
Place the dough seam-side down in the bowl. Cover, and let it rise for 1 hour or until double in size.

6. Prep a 9x9 pan, baking sheet, or 10-inch cast iron skillet by coating it in a little butter or oil (cast iron skillet is my preferred method!).

7. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface. With lightly floured hands, deflate the dough, turn it out onto your work surface. Roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 12 by 24 inches. Don’t worry about getting this perfect shape. The rolls will still come out well even if they are various sizes!

8. Spread the pesto across the entire surface of the dough followed by sprinkling most of the cheese onto the dough.

9. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, slice across so that you have about 12 strips of dough, each 12 inches or so long and 2 inches tall. Don’t stress if you end up with more or less! Roll each one up into a swirl.

10. Transfer the swirl buns to the prepared baking vessel with the swirl facing up — it’s ok for them to be slightly touching. They will expand to fill more of the empty space as they bake.