MsG recently invested in copies of Yotam Ottolenghi's two books: The Cookbook and Plenty. Plenty is packed with recipes from his Guardian Weekend column, such as the smashing Shakshuka. Both MsG and I have made recipes from this book and have found ourselves enjoying a variety of ingredients and combinations we'd previously never tried (and in some cases, vociferously refused) to cook with or eat.
The Cookbook also includes a hefty baking section. I've already made a few of the recipes, including the semolina tart (see pic below; I heretically used strawberries instead of the prescribed raspberries) and focaccia.
One recipe that had to be tackled was the crusty white Italian loaf. A recipe by Dan Lepard, the loaf is described as "having dark crunchy crust, soft waxy centre with giant holes and giant flavour". Sounds very tempting but the recipes states: "To achieve this creation … you need a good mixer as the dough is very wet and sticky and takes a lot of kneading. Don't try to do it by hand or using an old weak machine." For an advocate of hand made bread this caveat had the soft plopping sound of a floury baking gauntlet being thrown down.
The first attempt was a minor disaster. I tried using Richard Bertinet's technique for hand mixing but the final loaf was flat, dense and doughy; just awful. However, I was still convinced the loaf could be made completely by hand and was sure that if I adopted Dan Lepard's mxing style it would work. MsG tweeted Dan about it, and brilliantly, he replied saying that, yes a slow or no knead technique would work.
And so the following Friday I made the loaf using Mr Lepard's slow knead technique and the loaf was a success (see the handsome devil in the first picture above). An almost Faustian have-your-cake-and-eat-it mix of the best bits of all your favourite bread: a rustic crunchy crust, a soft, chewy crumb and a brilliant intense flavour. Definately well worth the effort.
