Laminated Brioche Pesto Buns with Lemon, Parmesan, and Walnut

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Hi there! Happy Saturday! I have a wee weekend baking project for you if you need a little something to make tomorrow - these Laminated Brioche Pesto Buns with Lemon, Parmesan, and Walnut! I’m eating one as I type this, getting pretzel salt on the keyboard, and can confirm, still amazing two days after baking.

I have been wanted to make a savoury laminated brioche bun for a while now, since I made these peach dudes a while back. I love the concept of a laminated brioche - it’s really only a couple of extra steps, one extra roll out and a little bit more of the filling, but it makes a huge difference to the end result, giving you a beautifully flaky layered dough.

I was a bit stuck on what to laminate the dough with that wouldn’t be too overpowering, but would still spread nicely, and pesto was the perfect choice. I of course went with my fave jarred pesto from Filippo Berio. They have so many amazing flavours, but this time I went with the Classic Basil, although these buns would work amazingly with any of their other flavours - there’s a sundried tomato, a spicy tomato, and a tomato and ricotta, and they are all so good!

I stuck with my regular brioche recipe, and spiked the dough with a little lemon zest and black pepper, then rolled it out and laminated it with the pesto, and some freshly grated parmesan cheese, mixed with some more lemon zest and black pepper. The whole thing then gets folded up like a letter, locking in the first layer of filling, and then rolled out again, spread with more pesto and cheese, and this time sprinkled with a layer of walnuts before being rolled up into a fat sausage. After a quick spin in the freezer (this step is totally optional but I love how it gives you a clean cut), the dough sausage is cut into thin buns before being risen for a second time, then baked to golden brown perfection. The multiple layers in the bread from the lamination create layers in the bread, which not only look incredibly fancy but makes them really fun to unwind and eat. These are so, so amazing just out of the oven, but almost as good a couple of days later zapped in the microwave and served warm.

This recipe is super super versatile. I encourage you to try different fillings - if you are looking for something else pesto based, this knot uses Filippo Berio’s Tomato and Ricotta. You can switch up the nuts as you like, the potential versions are endless.

A few wee tips:

• Usually I would roll these guys to about 26”x16” but I got a little excited on the rolling and rolled them to more 28”x13”, which meant I got a fatter sausage and fewer, larger buns (10 rather than 12). Use your judgement as you are rolling out, because sometimes your ratios end up a little off. I cut each bun to 1bout 1.3” (3.3cm) thick, so measure your sausage of dough (I like to trim the ends first), and work out how many you can get from there.
• I shot these on a smaller tray - ideally you want to bake them on two larger sheet pans.
• You can also have them all joined together like these buns - just place them close when you cut them rather than have them individual.
• I like to do the first proof in the fridge - and have recently been experimenting with dough times. If you are fridge proofing, about 5 hours works too if you don’t want to do it overnight. This makes it great to do in one day but still get the benefit of slightly chilled dough, which I find is easier to roll out. This way you can make the dough in the morning (or night before), then roll out as soon as a few hours later. Winner winner.
• I didn’t eggwash these before I baked them (because I wanted to have the salt on the top for the photos), but you absolutely could and probably should to help them go nice and golden.

Thank you so much to Filippo Berio for sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.

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