It’s always great when an experiment turns out even better than hoped for. And that’s what happened with these. They have a light, soft interior with a crunchy outer and they pack a seriously hot and spicy punch.

I used my normal sourdough routine, with a starter mixture, but I’ll also give an alternative recipe and method using instant yeast. (SD = Sourdough; Y = yeasted)

The sourdough method will take two days, including an overnight first prove. The yeasted method can be done in few hours.

Makes: 12 buns

Level: A step up from easy, but no problem if you’ve baked bread before

Need: A high-sided baking tray about 12” x 9”. I use a stand mixer, but you can knead by hand.

Sourdough method Ingredients

250g starter
190ml tepid water
12 – 15ml olive oil
400g strong white flour
10g fine salt

Yeasted method Ingredients

525g strong white flour
315ml tepid water
12 – 15ml olive oil
10g fine salt
7g instant yeast

Extra ingredients – after first prove (same for both methods)

Around 120g Nduja paste
I used about 100g diced chorizo (but next time I’ll put more in.)
An egg, lightly beaten

Method

1SD – Mix starter, water and oil. Add in the flour and salt. Mix then knead well. (8 minutes in a stand mixer, up to 20 minutes by hand.) Place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave overnight,

1Y – As above, but without the starter and with the yeast. (Keep the yeast away from the salt before mixing.) Leave in the covered bowl for 1 – 2 hours, until risen and doubled in volume.

2. Knock back risen dough and flatten, then roll out into an oblong roughly 15” x 10”.

3. Spread evenly with nduja paste (a 120g jar will be plenty.) Sprinkle on some chorizo pieces and press them in by hand or lightly with a rolling pin.

4. Fold/roll over the long ends. Make a tight roll. Cut into half then quarters then cut three from each quarter to make twelve.

5. Line a deep sided baking tray (around 12” x 9” ) with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment and sprinkle with flour (I did this, but I’m not convinced that it was really necessary.)

6. Place the cut pieces into the tray in a 4 x 3 format with a small gap between them.

7. Cover or place in a large proving bag (I used a clean bin liner). Fasten the end and leave for the second prove – about 40 minutes depending on room temperature. (The sourdough mix may take longer.)

8. Meanwhile turn the oven on to 200°C / fan 180°C / 400°F / gas 6. If you have a large pizza stone put it in the oven to heat up.

9. When the buns have risen again give them a brush with beaten egg and place in the oven. (I didn’t cover the top with foil, so any chorizo protruding became crispy – AKA burnt! I don’t mind a bit of carbon so it wasn’t a problem, but if you want to avoid this, put a sheet of foil over the tray at some point.

10. Give them about 30 minutes in the oven.

NB – A word of warning – handling nduja and chorizo and also the finished buns, will stain your fingers a lovely bright orangey-red.

I wish you every success with your bread making. I hope you have a go at this one and enjoy making and eating these lovely savoury buns. If you want to see more of my bread recipes click this link. I bake loads of other stuff: scones, cheesecakes, tarts etc. but I’m guessing you may be a fellow “bready”, so here are some quite different breads that you might want to try:

My White Sourdough