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ITALIAN FLAT BREAD
Organic Strong White flour
The basic dough, made with Marriage’s Organic Strong White flour is given three rises for a soft light and slightly open texture. The final topping is up to you – black olives, green olives stuffed with almonds or pimientos, anchovy fillets, sun-dried tomatoes and basil leaves, roasted garlic cloves, diced pepperoni, sweet hot peppers – or you could just leave it plain with a drizzle of oil and sea salt flakes.
Makes one large flat bread
For the basic dough:
- 500g Marriage’s Organic Strong White flour
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- 15g fresh yeast OR a 7g sachet easyblend dried yeast
- 300ml tepid water
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
To finish:
- Small tin anchovy fillets, drained or 75g pitted/stuffed olives or 100g cherry tomatoes and a small bunch of basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 large baking tray, lightly oiled
Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. If using fresh yeast crumble it into a small bowl and stir in a little of the water. Pour this and the remaining water and the oil into the well. If using the dried easyblend yeast, stir it into the flour then add the water and oil. Mix well with your hand or the dough hook of a large food mixer to make a slightly soft and but not sticky dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes until very smooth and silky textured. The dough can also be kneaded in the food mixer for 5 minutes on very low speed. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with a snap-on lid or slip the bowl into a large plastic bag. Leave in a warm (but not hot) spot until the dough has doubled in size – about 1 hour. Punch down the dough to deflate, then turn out onto a lightly floured worksurface and gently roll out to a large rectangle – about 30 x 35cm or to fit your baking tray. Lift the dough onto the tray and press and pull the dough back into shape. Slip the tray back into the plastic bag, or cover with a clean, slightly damp tea towel, and leave to rise until doubled in size – 30 to 40 minutes depending on the temperature. Prepare the topping ingredients – drain the anchovies and pull or slice each fillet in half along its length, then cut across to make matchstick like pieces; halve the cherry tomatoes. When the dough is ready, flour your fingers and press them into the dough to make rows of dimples. Press a piece of anchovy, an olive or cherry tomato halve and basil leaf into each dimple. The dough can just be left plain (with dimples) too. Return the dough to the plastic bag and leave to rise until almost doubled in size once more. Meanwhile heat the oven to 230°C, 450°F, Gas Mark 8.
Remove the tray from the plastic bag, drizzle over the oil (add sea salt flakes if not adding any other topping) and bake in the heated oven for about 20 minutes until a good golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Eat warm the same day. The cooled loaf can also be frozen.
