Breads

Spelt bread
1. 

Spelt is enjoying a real renaissance and is especially valuable if you have an intolerance to wheat. I particularly like this bread toasted, with cheese or with seafood. This recipe uses a poolish,

or starter dough.

500g spelt flour
10g fresh yeast or 1 tsp easy blend dried yeast
20g salt
150g water
100g whole spelt grains soaked overnight in warm water (optional)
butter or vegetable oil for tins, if using 
spelt flour for dusting

POOLISH (starter)
500g spelt flour
500g water
10g fresh yeast or 1 tsp easy blend dried yeast

Mix all the poolish ingredients in your mixing bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave for 3-5 hours in a warm place, or overnight in the fridge until the mixture is risen and bubbles appear

To make the bread, combine the poolish with the spelt flour yeast, salt, water and spelt grains (if using) and mix together with the help of a scraper. Use the scraper to help you turn out the dough onto your work surface (don't flour it first). Work the dough and once smooth flour your work surface lightly, place the dough on top, form into a ball and rest for an hour.

When the dough has risen, lightly dust the work surface with flour; turn out the dough and divide it in half using the sharp edge of a scraper. Cover with tea towels and leave to rest on the work surface for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 230C (or as high as your oven will go) an hour before you need it. Unless you're baking in tins (you'll need 2 lightly oiled 8oog tins), put in 2 baking stones or trays.

To form loaves, lightly dust the work surface, put the dough smoothest-side down and flatten it into a rough

oval shape. Fold one side of the flattened dough into the middle and press down firmly enough to leave finger indents. Now fold in the other side followed by the bottom and top, pressing down firmly each time. Fold in half and press down firmly to seal the edges. Put into tins seam-side down, or form into balls and put into (lightly floured) proving baskets or cloth-lined bowls. Cover with tea towels and leave to prove for 1 hour, or until just under double in volume.If using baskets, turn the loaves over onto a baking sheet ready for baking.

Open the oven door and quickly mist the inside of the oven with a water spray (about 15 squirts). Put in the tins, or slide the loaves onto the hot baking stones or trays in the oven, and spray again (about 5 squirts) before quickly closing the oven doon Set a timer for 2 minutes. After this time, turn down the heat to 200C and bake for a further 25-30 minutes until the bases of the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Cool on wire racks.

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