Gennaro’s Italian Bakery: Autumnal recipes from pumpkin bread to apricot tart

From the king of Italian baking comes Gennaro’s latest book showcasing typical bakes of Sicily to the more unusual creations given a Gennaro twist

This lovely rustic tart made with dried apricots will sweeten your day

Known as the man who taught Jamie Oliver everything he knows about Italian cooking, Gennaro Contaldo takes readers on a journey into the culinary world of Italian baking. If you had thought it was all about creating fantastic cakes and filled pastries, think again.

Gennaro introduces us to everything the Italian baker needs to know, from the essentials of his speciality of breads, including how to make the perfect dough to delicious an indulgent deserts and impressing the crowds with Italian focaccias, pizzas and biscuits.

Pumpkin Bread – Pane alla zucca

This is a fun bread to make for Halloween! You can make a larger loaf like this one, or smaller individual ones – after the first rising, divide the dough into smaller pieces and follow the recipe as below. I love the combination of pumpkin, chilli and rosemary, but if you prefer you can omit the chilli, especially if making for children. Or, if like me you love chilli, you can add more or less depending on the strength of the chilli.

Makes 8 slices

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, squashed and left whole 
½ red chilli, finely chopped 
needles of 1 rosemary sprig, finely chopped 
200g/7oz pumpkin or butternut squash (cleaned weight), cut into cubes 
1 tsp salt 
7g/ ¼oz fresh yeast 
80ml/3fl oz/generous ⅓ cup lukewarm water 
350g/12oz/scant 3 cups strong white bread flour
1 egg 
1 tsp honey 
egg wash 

Line a flat baking tray with parchment paper. Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic, chilli and rosemary and sauté over a medium heat for a minute or so. Stir in the pumpkin or squash and ½ teaspoon salt, then reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for about 12-15 minutes until the pumpkin has softened. Remove from the heat, leave to cool, discard the garlic, place the pumpkin on a board and roughly chop into smaller pieces. Set aside.

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Combine the flour, remaining salt, remaining extra virgin olive oil, the egg, honey and yeast mixture and mix until everything is well incorporated. Place on a floured work surface, add the pumpkin mixture and knead for 10 minutes, adding more flour if you find the dough too sticky. Place in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in a warm place for 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Knock back the dough on a floured work surface and form into a round ball-type shape, tying with string to make a pumpkin shape. Place the dough on the prepared baking tray, brush the top with egg wash and leave in a warm place to rest for a further 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6. Bake the pumpkin bread in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then tear and share!

Tomato Loaf – Pane al pomodori

This deliciously moist and aromatic tomato loaf is more like a savoury cake, hence the absence of yeast and no proving time. I urge you to use good-quality preserved sun-dried tomatoes – if necessary, buy the dried ones and marinate them yourself with olive oil, garlic, dried oregano and some chilli for a couple of days in a sealed container before using. This loaf makes a wonderful addition to your bread basket or you can eat it on its own as a snack. It also looks very pretty!

Serves 4–6

125g (all-purpose) flour 
7g tsp baking powder 
45g grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling 
1 tsp fennel seeds 
3 eggs 
40g melted butter, cooled 
2 tbsp double (heavy) cream 
50g sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped 
salt 
₁⁄₂ tsp black pepper 
handful of basil leaves 
120g baby tomatoes, leave the stalks on a few

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 and line a 19 x 9cm/7₁⁄₂ x 3₁⁄₂in loaf tin with parchment paper. Combine the flour, baking powder, grated parmesan and fennel seeds and set aside.

Whisk the eggs, melted butter and cream together in a large bowl until well combined and creamy. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes. Fold in the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until it is all well incorporated. Stir in a little salt (careful, sun-dried tomatoes can be quite salty), black pepper and basil leaves. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Push a few baby tomatoes into the mixture, sprinkle a little grated Parmesan over, and place the tomatoes with stalks on top, pressing slightly, for decoration.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden. Check by inserting a wooden skewer as you would for a cake; if it comes out clean, it is ready. Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then remove from the tin, slice and serve.

Dried Apricot Tart – Crostata di albicocche secche

This is a lovely rustic tart made with dried apricots, which are cooked to make a jam. It reminds me of the homemade crostata made by family and friends when I was growing up in Italy. An extra layer of the unsweetened pastry is added in the middle to cut through the sweetness of the apricot filling. You can substitute the apricots with prunes and use walnuts or flaked almond instead of pine kernels, if you prefer.

Serves 6

For the pastry

1 egg
2 egg yolks
350g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
pinch of salt
140g cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For the filling

250g dried apricots
180g (superfine) sugar
juice of ½ lemon
grated zest of 1 lemon
45g pine kernels
egg wash

Soak the dried apricots for the filling in enough lukewarm water to cover. To make the pastry, beat the egg and yolks together and set aside. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, add the butter and rub it in until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and mix well to form a smooth pastry. Form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill until required.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Drain the apricots and place the water into a saucepan together with the sugar and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the apricots, increase the heat, bring to the boil and cook over a medium-high heat for about 25 minutes, or until it is a jam-like consistency. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest.

Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan)/180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Divide the pastry into 3 pieces, making one slightly larger. Roll out the larger piece on a lightly floured work surface and use to line a 20cm/8in pie dish. Fill with half of the apricot filling and sprinkle with half of the pine kernels. Roll out another piece of dough the same size as the base of the pie dish and place this pastry round over the apricots. Fill with the remaining apricot mixture and sprinkle with the remaining pine kernels. With the remaining pastry, cut out strips with a pastry cutter and form a lattice shape over the top. Carefully fold over any excess pastry which is overhanging around the edge. Brush the pastry all over with egg wash and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until golden.

Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then remove from the pie dish and serve.

Gennaro’s Italian Bakery by Gennaro Contaldo, published by Pavilion Books is out now. Photography credit to Dan Jones.