Tutmanik/Mesenitza/Bulgarian Cheese Bread

Tutmanik or Mesenitza is a well known and popular Bulgarian cheese bread baked especially with Feta cheese. Every village, every region and even every family have their own way of preparing this cheese bread and also the name get changes depending upon how they are prepared. Thats why i couldnt stop myself to name this dish's title with both Tutmanik or Mesenitza. Obviously the shapes,recipes and the name may varies but the basic ingredient remains the same. Yes the basic ingredient for Tutmanik are flour, olive oil, feta, yeast. If you are googling for Tutmanik you may also notice that some of the Tutmanik recipes calls for quick bread preparation with baking powder and baking soda. But trust me yeasted dough Tutmanik is something to give a try as this bread smells insanely good while baking. Tutmanik dough doesnt call for egg but an egg yolk is needed to brush the top of this bread to get a nice a brownish colour top but i skipped it completely and went with a milk wash.

Am running a month of blogging marathon with A-Z baking around the world as theme. We, few of the bloggers have been running non stop with sundays off since three weeks. Its been a wonderful marathon as am learning many ultimate dishes to give a try and have been bookmarking loads of incredible dishes. Dunno when am gonna bake them but i have planned to bake few as soon as possible as. Coming to Tutmanik bread, this Bulgarian cheese bread is definitely an incredible snack time bread to enjoy without any fuss. If you love feta cheese, then this bread will became your favourite. You can enjoy these cheesy bread very much even for your breakfast or else for your sunday brunch.

Dont forget to check my previous post under this Megamarathon:
Aysh Abu Laham from Saudi Arabia
Bhapa Doi from India
Cemita Buns from Mexico
Dobos Torte from Hungary
Earthquake Cake from America
Fonott Kalacs from Hungary
Gougéres au Fromage from France
H'mbasha/Himbasha from Ethiopia
Irish Oats Scones from Ireland
Jailhouse Rolls from America
Kiflice from Siberia
Ladenia Milou from Greece
Mantecadas from Mexico
Nonnettes à la fraise from France
Obwarzanek Krakowski from Poland
Pampushki from Ukrain
Quark Rosinenbrötchen from Germany
Rieska from Finland
Samoon from Iraq

Recipe Source: here
Starter:
1tsp yeast
1tsp sugar
2tbsp Flour
3/4 cup water

Dough: 
2tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4tsp Vinegar
4cups All purpose flour
Luke warm water (as per need)
1/4cup Olive oil for shaping & brushing
2tbsp Milk

Filling:
150grams Feta cheese (crumbled)

Take the flour, water, flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl, mix well. Cover the bowl and let it sit in warm place for 15minutes.

In a large bowl, take 3+1/2 cups of flour, salt, vinegar, olive oil together,add the starter and luke warm water and knead everything as a soft dough by adding the rest of the flour.

The dough will be soft, elastic and pliable.

Transfer dough to a greased bowl, keep aside for an hour. Lightly warm the olive oil in a large pan.Remove and keep aside.

Punch the dough and divide the dough to 6-7 balls and drop them in the pan to absorb oil.

Grease your hands and stretch delicately the dough as a medium sized circle. Add the feta.

Gently roll the dough to form a log. Make a swirl and repeat the same procedure for the rest of the dough. Arrange it in a greased round pan.

Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to double its size. Preheat the oven to 350F.

Brush the rolls gently with milk and bake for 20-25minutes until the crust turns golden brown. Once tutmanik comes out of the oven brush the top generously with olive oil.

Serve warm.

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