Our favourite. A flatbread, an unreasonable dousing of flaky sea salt and slices, chunks, dollops and every last scrap of the goodies found in the summer vege box. The cherry tomatoes are so sweet, the basil is perfection. Those little baby carrots? Yowser. A fresh loaded flatbread makes for a happy Pedro and a happy Noemie. Our households have been filled with the sounds of contented eaters.
Sourdough starter
Best bet; Find that friend who has a sourdough starter and steal some! You can start your own which is rewarding but can be hit or miss. Plenty of resources online so I won’t rattle on.
I feed my starter the day before I need it when the weather is warm. Cold, I’ll let it work for two days in a warm spot. Feed the starter a 1:1 ratio of flour to water mixed together (This is conventional wisdom, I add a touch more liquid.) Once it smells like a defunct brewery, you’re on the right track. It will increase in volume then settle again; Leave it in a container with twice the volume you think you need.
Dough
- 400g of starter
- 500g bakers flour
- 2TB salt
- 3TB sugar
- 4TB olive oil
- 200ml cold water
1)Dry ingredients in a large bowl, add the wet and knead. It’ll take about two minutes of hard mixing/ kneading till all the ingredients are dispersed evenly. Then stop! No need to work those biceps cowboy. This is one of those easy does it recipes!
2)Place the dough in a covered container (With space to rise) in the fridge overnight. This allows the sourdough flavour to develop. Now we wait…
Flatbread
The tricky bit! I’ve taught this trick many times. It’s just practice, practice, practice.
1)Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Cut into 10 – 12 pieces. Roll each piece of dough till a smooth round ball is formed. The edge of your hand stays on the bench, the palm rotates and applies pressure to form the ball. Minutes 2 – 4 of this video if you’re having trouble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx2Sf3XqkhQ
2) Hot pan, lots of olive oil. Plenty of dusting flour on your surface. Roll out to roughly the size of your pan.
3)Place the dough into the pan carefully. Drizzle the top with more oil, flaky sea salt and herbs of your choice. Personal fave; garlic butter and paprika! Fry until golden brown/ dark drown in patches. Flip it and cook for another minute or two. Voila!
Sugo al basilico
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- About 800g of tomatoes (Tinned or fresh, boiled and skinned)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- A heap of basil
1) The sofrito: Add finely chopped celery, onion and carrot to a pan with some olive oil and cook on very low heat. (Increase heat, add wine and reduce if desired)
2)Use the stick blender to blitz the sofrito with the garlic and some olive oil until smooth.
3)Bring back to the pan, on low heat. Add the tomatoes to the sofrito with a bit of salt and pepper, stir well and gently cook covered for an hour.
4)Take the lid off and cook for a further 30 to 45 minutes, to thicken.
5)When ready, add a handful of chopped fresh basil and basta!
Now you can spread it on your flatbread with all your favourite pickles and vege!
