These buns were inspired by a trip to Georgia, a country with an incredible food culture. They use loads and loads of herbs in their cooking – with a special focus on tarragon and dill. So when I came up with these buns, I combined salty Georgian cheese with herbs and melting onions in the filling. Since we can’t get Georgian cheese here, I’ve swapped it for salty feta in this recipe – it will still taste great.
For the dough:
150g butter, at room temperature
530g flour T55
35g sugar
½ tsp salt
21g fresh yeast
120ml lukewarm water
3 eggs
For the filling:
3 onions
2 tbsp sunflower oil
400g feta
30g dill
25g parsley
10g tarragon
pepper
Everything bagel seasoning, to sprinkle
Olive oil, for brushing
Makes 28 – overnight rising
Cut the butter into 3cm cubes. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a freestanding mixer. Dilute the yeast in the water and add to the flour with the eggs. Beat until a dough forms, then gradually add the butter, two cubes at a time, until incorporated. Knead for 8 minutes until you get a nice bouncy dough.
Grease a bowl with a bit of sunflower oil, put the dough ball in and cover with cling film. Leave to rise in the fridge overnight.
The next day: peel and chop the onions. Heat the sunflower oil on a medium heat and fry the onions with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes until really soft. Season with lots of pepper and set aside.
Chop all the herbs.
Grease 2 tins of 20 x 30 cm and one smaller tin (I used a round one of xxx diameter).
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle measuring approximately 55 x 35 cm. Distribute the onions all over the surface, leaving a little border at along the long sides of the rectangle. Crumble the feta over the onions, then distribute the herbs all over.
Cut the pasty crosswise in 4 pieces. Roll up a piece, lifting the long side from the inside and rolling it to the outside, closing it on the bare border. Cut the sausage into 7 pieces.
Place the dough pieces in a greased baking tray, leaving about 3 cm between them. Repeat with the remaining dough, cover the trays with damp teatowels and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 ½ hours.
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Sprinkle the buns with Everything Bagel seasoning, then bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 30 minutes, take the buns out, cover with foil, and bake for another 15 minutes.
When the buns come out of the oven, brush them with olive oil and leave to cool a bit before serving.
