I’m currently experiencing a rare occurrence in my life; a weekend off. So, what better to do with my free time than to make bread?... Well, maybe a few things, but making bread sounds good to me.
I returned to Richard Bertinet’s Dough for my bakes this weekend. The book provides an innovative approach to bread making by giving you 5 basic doughs that can be transformed into a much bigger variety of breads. I tried the basic white dough last time. This time, it’s olive bread...
... Which isn’t actually that different to white bread. It includes 500g strong white bread flour, 15g fresh yeast and, for a little extra texture, 20g coarse semolina. I crumbled the yeast in with my fingers and into this went 10g salt, 50g olive oil (the recipe asked for extra-virgin: I did half and half, for economy’s sake) and 320g water. Everything was combined in the bowl and turned out on a clean, dry work surface to be worked. Last time I made a bread from Bertinet’s book, I used his method of working the dough, lots of slapping it down on the work surface, pulling and folding. I got a little exasperated this time round because, initially, the dough wouldn’t stick to the work surface so couldn’t be pulled and folded properly. I gave up and worked it as I normally would, arm workout and all, but I personally don’t mind using that method. Once it was smooth and elastic, it went into a floured bowl and rested in a warm spot for 30 minutes. No doubling in size for the breads that I was doing; neither needed to be light or airy.
I turned the dough out onto a very well-floured surface and cut it in half. And here, their paths went very different ways.
The first half then got cut into 4. I formed each piece into a ball and then rolled it out until about ½ cm thick. I’d already prepped 4 oven-proof bowls by oiling them on the outside, so the dough got draped and formed over the upturned bowl. When all 4 were done, the dough rested for 10 minutes and I preheated the oven to 200°C (400°F or gas mark 6). The bowls went in for about 25 minutes until golden brown (best to check after 20 minutes though). When they came out of the oven, they cooled for about 5 minutes before I carefully teased them off the bowls with a round-bladed knife. Et voila! Soup bowls! (Warning; probably won't support hot soup for the entire length of time it takes to eat it. Would recommend using an actual bowl too...)
The other half of the dough got split into 2 pieces and each piece went onto a non-stick tray (about 20cm by 30cm) that had been lightly oiled. I pushed the dough out with my fingers to partially fill the tray. When it had stretched about as far as it wanted to, it got rested for about 20 minutes and then pushed out again. I have to admit, I slightly messed one up by trying to readjust it too much on the tray (push the dough out too thin, or make the single piece uneven, and it will either cook unevenly or just generally too fast). I put it aside before I could mess it up any more and let the dough sit for another 10 minutes while the oven preheated to 220°C (425°F or gas mark 7). I sprinkled salt on top before cooking the dough for 8-10 minutes, or just colouring. It came out before browning too much because this bread is meant to stay flexible. Voila; flatbreads!
An afternoon off well spent, I’d say.
Simplified recipe
The Dough (makes 4 flatbreads or 8 soup bowls... or half of each, if you do both at the same time, as I did)
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour
20g coarse semolina
15g fresh yeast
10g salt
320g water
50g olive oil (extra-virgin, if you’re feeling plush)
Method
1. Place the flour, semolina and yeast in a bowl and rub the yeast into the flour using your fingertips
2. Add the salt, water and olive oil and bring the dough together
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and work using your preferred method until smooth and elastic
4. Place in a lightly-floured bowl and rest in a warm place for 30 minutes
To make soup bowls
1. Lightly oil the outside of 8 oven-proof bowls (around 12cm in diameter)
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide into 8 pieces
3. Shape each piece into a ball
4. Roll out the dough into a circle
5. Drape each circle over a bowl and gently shape it to the bowl
6. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F or gas mark 6)
7. Bake the soup bowls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown
8. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before gently teasing the bowls off their moulds with a round-bladed knife. Allow to cool on a wire wrack
9. To serve, warm the bowls in an oven preheated at 180°C (350°F or gas mark 4) for 3 minutes
To make flatbreads
1. Lightly oil 4 20cm by 30cm baking trays
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide into 4
3. Place each piece on a baking tray and use your fingers to push the dough and spread it over the tray
4. Rest the dough for 15-20 minutes
5. Use your fingers to push the dough again. You should be able to stretch it to fill the tray but try to do this evenly
6. Rest the dough for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F or gas mark 7)
7. Bake the dough until just beginning to colour. To turn it into bread crisps suitable for dipping, bake for 15-18 minutes until... well, crisp
References
Dough, Richard Bertinet, Kyle Books, 2005
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