Fig, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt Challah

Fig stuffed Challah straight from the oven

This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen.  Assuming you know how to make a basic challah, one of the basic traditional Jewish recipes, (and if you don't, I'll post a recipe soon), here is the secret for the fig filling, and method.

Fig Filling
1 cup (5 1/2 ounces or 155 grams) stemmed and roughly chopped dried figs
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest, or more as desired
1/4 cup (60 ml) orange juice
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Few grinds black pepper

Directions: I found it easiest to make the fig paste in a food processor, pulsing until it resembled a fine paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  You could also combine all of the ingredients above.  Place ingredients in a small saucepan, simmer over medium heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the figs are soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat, and let cool to lukewarm. Set aside to cool.

Insert figs: After your dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured counter and divide it in half. Roll the first half of the dough into a wide and totally imperfect rectangle (really, the shape doesn’t matter). Spread half the fig filling evenly over the dough, stopping short of the edge. Roll the dough into a long, tight log, trapping the filling within. Then gently stretch the log as wide as feels comfortable (I take mine to my max counter width, a pathetic three feet), and divide it in half. Repeat with remaining dough and fig filling.

Braid the challah dough.  Transfer the dough to a parchment-cover heavy baking sheet, or, if you’ll be using a bread stone, a baker’s peel. Beat egg until smooth, and brush over challah. Let challah rise for another hour, but 45 minutes into this rise, preheat your oven to 375°F.

Bake your loaf: Before baking, brush loaf one more time with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in middle of oven for 35 to 40 minutes. It should be beautifully bronzed; if it starts getting dark too quickly, cover it with foil for the remainder of the baking time. The best way to check for doneness is with an instant-read thermometer — the center of the loaf should be 195 degrees.
Cool loaf on a rack before serving. (Good luck with that - mine last about 2 minutes before I had to try a slice . . . ) Eat and enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom and bon appetit!