Recommended for a picnic-brunch or an upgraded mid-week dinner

At times like this, when many of us are near the house (and near the oven and the kitchen), it is possible and desirable to fill it with baking smells and to sit the whole family around the dining table for a particularly elaborate breakfast, or a hearty dinner, and to pull out challah stuffed with all good things from the oven. Therefore, let Ines Shilat Yanai take you and you step by step, until the perfect result.

Ingredients for a large challah or 2 medium ones:

For the dough: 

1 kilo of white flour

2 tablespoons of dry yeast

2 tablespoons of sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 2 cups of water

A spoonful of salt

For the filling:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 stalks of chopped green onion

1 chopped leek

4 cups of chopped portobello mushrooms

50 grams of blanched almonds

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For coating: 

1 beaten egg

50 grams of sesame

50 grams of blanched almonds

Preparation instructions:

1. In a mixer with a kneading hook, or in a bowl for kneading by hand, mix the flour, yeast and sugar.

2. Make a hole in the flour and yeast mixture and pour the water, a tablespoon of salt and olive oil into it.

3. Knead well until a uniform dough is obtained and place in a greased and covered bowl to rise for an hour.

4. In a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, fry leek and chopped green onion for about 3 minutes and add the mushrooms, mix and continue frying until all the liquid has evaporated. Add salt, pepper and almonds and remove from heat to cool.

5. After an hour of rising, divide the dough into 3 or 4 parts (depending on which challah you want) and roll each part on a floured surface into a 1 cm thick sheet.

6. Place the stuffing on each leaf and roll into a strip. Braid challah from the strips and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

7. Let it rise for about 30 more minutes and in the meantime heat the oven to 180 degrees.

8. Brush with beaten egg, sesame and almonds. and put in the oven for 25-35 minutes, until the challah gets a brown color.

Ines Shilat Yanai, in collaboration with olive tree oil