Showstopper Breads: 2 Recipes Guaranteed to Impress

_{These are versatile recipes that can be adapted to your tastest – just don’t use very wet fillings or overstuff. Photograph: Jill Mead for the Guardian}

Bread is sometimes too good to play a side role – pack your dough with fillings and you will have an all-in-one loaf that really can take centre stage.Bread doesn't have to be boring. This week's breads aren't ones to be half-heartedly spread with cheap jam, served as dull dinner rolls or left languishing, mould-spotted, in the bread bin; these are flavourful centrepiece breads, stuffed with vegetables, meat and cheese. Make a meal of it.

Spiced almond lamb flatbreads

These are loosely based on the Turkish gözleme so bountiful in my corner of London: dough rolled to tissue-thin rounds, stuffed with meat, potato or spinach, and cooked on a hotplate until steaming and golden.Makes 6
For the dough
400g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
90ml olive oil
150ml waterFor the filling
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
50g flaked almonds
375g minced lamb
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp curry powder
50g sultanas
A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped1 Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk the oil and water together, then pour this into the dry ingredients. Work the ingredients roughly together using a spoon before using your hands to bring everything into a smooth dough. Knead it lightly for a couple of minutes before wrapping in clingfilm and placing in the fridge to rest for an hour or so.2 While the dough rests, prepare the filling. Gently fry the onion in the oil for 10 minutes, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and flaked almonds and cook for another minute or so, lightly toasting the nuts. Increase the heat slightly and add the lamb and spices. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lamb is browned all over. Add the sultanas and parsley, season well and leave to cool.3 Once the dough has rested and the filling is cool, prepare the flatbreads. Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll one of the pieces out on a lightly floured surface to a disc 20-25cm in diameter. Roll it as thinly as you can - you should almost be able to see through the dough.4 Spread a sixth of the filling mixture over one half of the circle, leaving a border of about 1cm around the edges. Fold the other half of the circle over the top and pinch the edges together to seal. Dust with a little more flour and roll again until the bread's about 1½ times its original folded size. It doesn't matter if a little of the filling bursts out.5 Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and fry the bread for 1 ½-2 minutes on each side over a medium heat. Repeat the rolling, filling, folding and frying process with the remaining dough and filling. Enjoy while hot.

Mushroom mozzarella braid loaf

This looks impressive on the table - neatly braided, glazed and baked to a golden sheen - but it's a simple bread to master. Just make sure that the filling's completely cool before you add it to the dough, otherwise any residual heat will send the yeast into overdrive. I've used mild mozzarella here to avoid drowning out the delicate flavour of the oyster mushrooms, but taleggio or fontina would also work well if you can find them.For the filling
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
125g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
125g oyster mushrooms, sliced
A handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
125g mozzarella
SaltFor the dough
250g strong white flour
1½ tsp instant dried yeast
½ tsp salt
130ml lukewarm water
30g softened butter
1 egg, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt1 Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat then add the onion. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion has begun to soften. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes before stirring in the mushrooms and a couple of good pinches of salt. Fry for 10-15 minutes to soften the mushrooms. Once ready, remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.2 While the filling cooks and cools, prepare the dough. Stir the flour, yeast and salt together in a large bowl, then pour in the water. Use your hands to scrunch and squeeze the ingredients together to a shaggy dough, then work in the butter. Tip the dough on to a clean work surface and knead for 5 minutes, until it is smoother and more elastic. It should become less sticky as you knead it. Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to rise at room temperature for around an hour, or until roughly doubled in size.3 Once the dough's risen and the filling is cool, you can assemble the braid. Stir the chopped parsley through the mushroom mixture and slice the mozzarella into discs and set aside. Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it's a rectangle roughly 30cm wide and 25cm tall. Arrange the mushroom filling over the middle third of the dough, so that it sits heaped in a broad stripe roughly 10cm wide (and 25cm long, from one edge of the rectangle to the other). Lay the mozzarella slices on top. Cut the remaining 'wings' of the dough rectangle into 8 equal-width strips on each side, each strip joined to the central section (with the filling on it).4 Working from the side nearest you, fold the bottom left strip diagonally over the filling to meet the join of the right-hand strip one row above it. Now fold the bottom right strip diagonally over to meet the near edge of the left strip one row above it. Repeat, working your way up, until the filling's safely encased in the braid. Pinch the ends of the braid together so that no filling leaks out. Transfer the braid to a large baking tray.5 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and leave the braid to rise, covered loosely with clingfilm, for 45 minutes or so.6 Brush the surface of the braid with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven before decreasing the temperature to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and cooking for a further 20 minutes. It's ready when it's well-risen, golden brown and sizzling. Leave to cool before serving.