High speed bread!

This is exciting!  After making flatbreads the other day, I was initially thinking: yeah, this is awesome, we can make these any old night, they don't take long.  Then I thought about it a bit more and realised that realistically, for a weeknight supper, even a 40 minute rising time just isn't going to cut it...

Then, somewhere on the internet, I stumbled across this method (also here).  It's a no-knead, minimal rising time bread method - absolute minimum effort.  You just mix up the dough, leave it at room temp for a few hours, then either use it right away or (this is the best bit) transfer it to the fridge and keep it there for up to 2 weeks, using it as and when you need it, with just a little resting time required for oven-baked loaves.  Sounded amazing - too good to be true?!

So I decided to try it out - I mixed up a batch one evening last week and this morning (~3 days after the initial mix making) I decided to make the bread: the quantity I'd mixed up should have been sufficient for 2 loaves, so I used half for a loaf baked in the oven, and made instant za'atar flatbreads out of the other half.

(NOTE: I usually make half the quantity below at a time, which is enough for 2 good sized pizzas and a couple of flatbreads, or 3-4 pizzas, or a couple of batches of flatbreads - this seems to be our usual intake over the couple of weeks the dough is good for)

1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast (3 tbsp / 25 g fresh yeast)
1 1/2 tbsp salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (+more for dusting)
3 cups lukewarm water
cornmeal

In a large bowl, mix yeast, salt and water. Then mix in the flour, just until there are no dry patches. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours.

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks.

For a small loaf:
(takes ~2 hour 10 min)
Cut off a grapefruit-size piece (~1/4 of the total quantity) with a sharp knife. Stretch in hands to make a small oval with a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Sprinkle baking tray with cornmeal, then put the shaped dough on it. Let rest for 40 minutes (or an hour and 40 min if dough refrigerated). Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450F. Put an ovenproof dish of water in the bottom of the oven. When ready to bake, slash the top of the loaf three times with a sharp knife. Sprinkle with flour or za'atar or seeds. Put the tray in the oven and bake for ~30 min, until browned and sounding hollow when tapped. Allow to cool before eating.

For flatbreads:
(takes only the time needed to roll out and cook the breads = 5-7 min per flatbread; this made about 6 so about 35 min)
Cut off a satsuma sized piece of dough (for small ones - use more for bigger ones). Flour a surface and rolling pin well, then roll out the dough piece into an approximate circle about 2 mm thick. Coat one side of the rolled out piece with a little olive oil (or could use veg oil, or marg). Heat a frying pan, then place the prepared dough piece oil side down in it. Cover and cook for about 2.5 minutes on that side, then flip (optionally sprinkle new top side with za'atar, salt, seeds, similar), cover and cook about 2.5 minutes on the other side. Keep warm while you cook more lumps of dough the same way, until you have the desired number of flatbreads.

Note: for garlic naan, while you are preparing the flatbreads as above, melt about 1 tbsp butter and 1/2 chopped garlic clove per flatbread together in the microwave or in a pan. Pour / spread a tbsp of mixture per bread as soon as it is cooked. Great with curry.

For pizza:
(takes only the time needed to shape dough, followed by about 20 min in the oven)
Put the oven on to heat to 400F, and put a pizza stone or cast iron in if you have one. Grab an orange sized piece of dough. Flour a clean surface generously, then squash, pull and roll the dough into the desired shape. Aim for a thickness of approx. 0.7cm - we have found that too thin ends up rather crispy-crunchy while too fat ends up a little doughy - no big deal if it's a bit off through, totally edible in any form. If using pizza stone, lay a piece of parchment paper big enough to fit the pizza base onto a flat, movable surface (large chopping board or upside down baking tray), then put the dough on top. If using a normal baking tray just move the dough directly to the baking tray. Arrange sauce and toppings on top of the base, then put straight in the oven for the baking tray, or slide together with the paper onto the hot stone if doing it that way. Bake for ~20 min, until lightly browned.


The flatbreads were brill, definitely a great anytime quick recipe and a great summer recipe as it is bread without oven. The za'atar sprinkled on top made them extra tasty (think I am having another za'atar moment). Pizza works similarly well.

The bread came out less well, but that is probably because I missed the bit about resting it for 1 hour 40 min and only rested it for 40 min (this was the recommendation if you're using a pizza stone: I don't have one).  It's tasty and edible, just the crumb is a bit dense and the loaf is therefore a bit small. Hmm, an hour and 40 min is a bit long...

S and I ate all the flatbreads for a Sunday breakfast (he had ~4 1/2, I had ~1 1/2). Meanwhile, I let the loaf rise, then baked it and also mixed up a new batch to put in the fridge. This seemed like quite a good combination / approach - instant bread plus bread for a bit later plus bread for sometime in the next 2 weeks, all in the same kitchen session.

Edit: I've been making flatbreads a lot, and experimenting with rolling stuff in the middle (in the style of these) - did some with za'atar and nigella seed, and some with some cooked spelt berries I had in the fridge - the former were fine but not really worth the bother when you can just sprinkle on top instead, the latter were a bit random in original thought but were actually really good - made the white-flour flatbread into a chunkier, more texturally interesting wholegrain version with very little bother.

Cardamom flatbreads

They made flatbreads on 'The Great British Bake Off' the other day (I love that show), and they looked really good.  Thus, I remembered noting this recipe from this cookbook on Amazon (the cookbook looks intriguing).

Makes 8

3/4 tbsp dried yeast
1/2 tbsp sugar
250 ml lukewarm water (test for temperature - too hot will kill the yeast)
3 cups plain flour
seeds from 15 cardamom pods, crushed in a mortar and pestle
3 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for cooking

Combine the yeast, sugar, and water and set in a warm place until foaming, about 10 minutes. Mix the flour, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl with a fork. Add the olive oil to the yeast mixture, then pour into the flour. Mix the dough with your hands.

Knead for about 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, 1-1 1/2 hours. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 balls.

Using a rolling pin, roll each ball into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Place rolled out pieces on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (you can keep in the fridge for up to a day at this point). Preheat a grill pan (or frying pan) and brush each piece with a little olive oil. Lay the piece oiled side down on the pan, and cook over medium heat, about 1 minute, or until golden brown and bubbles rise from the surface. Turn over and cook the other side. Keep warm while cooking the remaining flatbreads


These were really tasty: S loved them - lovely, soft, naan-y texture, and I enjoy cardamom in pretty much anything, sweet or savoury.  Note that the recipe suggested using other spices such as chilli flakes, nigella seeds or cumin seeds instead of the cardamom, all of which sound like great ideas.  I also fancy trying out Paul Hollywood of GBBO's own flatbread recipe, as hyped by Nigel Slater here.

We ate them with a yellow split pea dal, made combining a few recipes I've used before.

Speedy pizza

A lazy morning, and we suddenly got hungry.  Something with bread, using some of the spinach and the yellow peppers needing eating...  I remembered this post on hipsterfood - no-knead, no-wait pizza dough?  Too good to be true?  Worth testing out, for sure...

1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups flour (plus more for rolling out)

1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 large yellow pepper, sliced
1 bag spinach
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
olive oil
salt+pepper

pesto (~4tbsp)

balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to ~400F.  Put the tomatoes, pepper and garlic into an oven tray with a little olive oil and seasoning.

Put the warm water in a medium sized bowl and mix in the yeast.  Let sit for ~5 min.  Then add salt, olive oil and flour and mix to a pliable dough.

Roll out dough on a baking sheet.  Rub all over with olive oil and put in the oven for 5 min.  Check on the tomato mix.

Wash and trim the spinach and put into a large pan.  Heat medium high until it is all wilted.  Transfer to a colander to allow liquid to drain.

When the crust is looking like it's started to firm up (5-10 min cooking), remove from the oven.  Spread on the pesto.  The tomato mix should be cooked by now - spread it over the pesto.  Add the spinach, spreading it out in clumps.  Put some salt and pepper over the top.  Return to the oven for another 5-10min.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle some balsamic vinegar on top and serve.


Definitely worth trying...  The crust was totally up to scratch - not perfect pizza, but let's face it we don't have a wood-fired oven here...  Might try splitting the dough and making 2 thinner ones another time.  Rolling out directly on the baking sheet was a good idea - much easier to avoid splitting.  Really surprisingly good - and how often do you feel like pizza and then feel like waiting for all the rising steps etc before you can eat it?

I am not a fan of fake cheese.  Real cheese or none at all.

Lentil flatbreads + tomato-lime sauce

Since I loved Dan Lepard's olive sesame bread so much I thought I'd have a look through some of his other bread recipes.  I found this one and thought I'd give it a go.  The two main things I like about these recipes are 1) that you make a bread that is different from anything you could buy and 2) the formula of do something quick and easy / wait a while / repeat...


Lentil flatbreads


350g strong white flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
50ml sunflower oil
250ml milk and water, half of each

For the dhal:
150g dry red lentils
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

The night before, make the dough. In a bowl, mix the flour, soda and salt, add the oil and milk, stir, then cover and leave overnight at room temperature.
Next day, boil the lentils and garlic in water for eight to 10 minutes, then leave to drain in a sieve. Tip on to a sheet of muslin, and wring out excess water. Tip into a bowl, stir in the spices and salt, and remove the garlic. Set aside until cold.
Using lots of flour to dust both hands and worksurface, cut the dough into 50g pieces. Pat each piece flat in the palm of your hand. Take a spoonful of lentils (15g-30g, depending on how brave you feel) and squeeze into a ball, then wrap one piece of dough around it. Dab the edges with water and pinch it together to seal. Tap the dough out firmly, again using lots of flour, then roll very thin. Get a large frying pan quite hot, lay in a patty and cook for a minute each side. Set aside in a warm place, covered with foil, and repeat with the remaining dough.

I made the dough and the lentils in the morning and then assembled, rolled and cooked in the evening after work.  The recipe made about 12 (I think) - half quantity would have been sufficient for us.  Amazingly the lentil mix and dough ended up being perfectly in proportion.  They were well nice and S loved them.  Bit faffy but the assembling and rolling was actually quite a pleasing process and not too hard.

I made a quick spicy lime-tomato sauce to dip them in as I fancied something limey to go with them:

juice of a lime
1 tbsp tomato puree
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch salt
2 tsp olive oil

Mix all together and serve.  Quite runny and lime is the dominant flavour.  S said it was like a cocktail and I guess it did have a lot of elements of a Virgin Mary.  Went well though.