Name: Baked camembert with bacon-wrapped breadsticks
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 8-10 as nibbles, 4-5 as a starter
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 400g strong white flour; 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast; 2 tsp English mustard powder; 1 tsp golden caster sugar; 2 tsp thyme leaves plus extra sprigs for the cheese; 1 tbsp light olive oil plus extra for greasing; 250g whole camembert in a box; 20 slices pancetta

Home
Recipes
Baked camembert with bacon-wrapped breadsticks

Baked camembert with bacon-wrapped breadsticks

Sarah Cook

Save recipe

Serves 8-10 as nibbles, 4-5 as a starter

More effort

Prep: 40 mins

Cook: 20 mins

plus 1 hr rising

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.15 ratingsRate

loading...

Gooey, melted cheese and crispy, golden bread make a stunning centrepiece to share with friends over drinks or as a dinner party starter – make ahead for fuss-free entertaining

Freezable (bread only)

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Bourbon cocktail

A star rating of 3.5 out of 5.2 ratings

Quick & easy party nibbles

A star rating of 4.4 out of 5.8 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

400g strong white flour
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 tsp golden caster sugar
2 tsp thyme leaves

plus extra sprigs for the cheese
1 tbsp light olive oil

plus extra for greasing
250g whole camembert

in a box
20 slices pancetta

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: per serving (10)

kcal256
fat10g
saturates5g
carbs29g
sugars1g
fibre1g
protein12g
salt1.4g

Method

step 1

Mix together the flour, yeast, mustard powder, 11/2 tsp fine salt, the sugar, thyme leaves and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Stir in 250ml lukewarm water, use your hands to bring together into a dough, then knead for 10 mins on a clean surface until it is smooth and elastic. If you have a tabletop mixer with a dough hook, use this instead and ‘knead’ for just 5 mins. Sit the dough in a large, clean bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave at room temperature for about 1 hr until doubled in size.
step 2

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5 and line your largest baking tray with baking parchment. Sit the lid of your boxed camembert in the centre of the tray.
step 3

Knead the dough back into a smooth ball, then use your fingers to make a hole through the centre. Steadily stretch the doughnut shape into a large ring until the centre hole is large enough to fit around the lid. The best way to do this is to swing the dough around your fingers, then hand, like a hula-hoop.
step 4

Sit the dough ring on the tray around the box lid. Use kitchen scissors to snip the dough ring into 20 strips, from the outside in, but leave a few millimetres of dough still connecting the strips together around the lid in the centre. If using the ready-to-eat pancetta slices, halve each one lengthways. Twist one of the 20 dough strips to make it longer and thinner like a breadstick, then wrap a pancetta slice in a spiral around it. Repeat with all the dough strips.
step 5

Your breadsticks might look a little higgledy-piggledy at the moment, so use kitchen scissors to snip the ends off any that need it to make an even, round shape, if you like (see tip below). Brush with a little light olive oil and bake for 15 mins.
step 6

Meanwhile, unwrap the camembert and top with the thyme sprigs. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a little more black pepper. Remove the breadsticks from the oven and sit the cheese inside the box lid, then bake for another 5 mins until the bread is golden and crispy, and the cheese molten.

RECIPE TIPS

GET AHEAD

This is so easy to prep ahead. Bake the bread for the initial 15 minutes, then cool and cover for up to 1 day. To serve, add the cheese to the centre and bake for 10 minutes at 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

USE UP LEFTOVERS

Bake the snipped- off breadstick ends alongside the breadstick ring for just 10 mins, then cool and snip any larger chunks into smaller bits to use as chunky croutons in a salad. These will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container, or can be frozen and used with your turkey leftovers in a turkey & bacon Caesar salad.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2015

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.15 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now