Basic bread

• By Matty Cremona

Use the basic bread recipe inventively. Knead raisins and spices into the dough, or chopped dried figs (see picture) and grated orange peel, chocolate chunks or dates and walnuts. You could try rolling out the dough, sprinkling over the dried fruit and spices and rolling it up. Then bake it whole or cut it into chunks while raw and arrange them in a baking-tin, leaving them to prove before baking them. A savoury version of this swirl bread is delicious with soup for supper. Try the following combinations: fried spinach, olives and onions; grated zucchini and mozzarella, or shredded ġbejniet and chopped fried artichokes.

Instant yeast is widely available in local supermarkets. It is difficult to find ordinary dried yeast and seemingly impossible to find fresh yeast. Instant yeast is good but its use is limited as it should be added directly to the flour.

You will need:

A heaped teaspoonful of dried yeast or a sachet instant yeast, a lump of dough from a previous batch (ask your baker or start off your own), 450ml of tepid water, a teaspoonful of honey or sugar, a teaspoonful of sea salt, 750g of strong white bread flour, olive oil, optional: quick sour-dough made three days in advance (see method).

Pour the tepid water into a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast into it, adding the lump of dough at this point if you’re using it, and stir in the honey or sugar. Leave it for a couple of minutes while you sieve 150g of the flour. Once the yeast has just started to rise to the surface of the water, stir in the sieved flour, cover the bowl and leave it in a warm spot for 30 minutes. Check the flour and yeast mixture; it should have risen noticeably. If you are using quick sour-dough, add it at this point. Now sieve the rest of the flour onto the kitchen table and make a deep well in the centre. Pour in the yeast mixture and start to stir it into the flour until you have pliable dough. Knead for at least 10 minutes until it is smooth and silky. Roll the well-kneaded dough in some olive oil and put it in a bowl, cover it and leave it in a warm place for about an hour to 90 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in bulk. Punch down the dough and then knead it until it is smooth and pliable again. If it feels sticky add a little more flour as you knead. Shape it into little rolls, brushing the tops with olive oil and sprinkling them with sesame seeds. Put them onto a well-oiled baking-tray, covering them and leaving them to rise again for about 45 minutes or until they have doubled in size. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 8/230ºC. Bake them for around 15 to 20 minutes. To test whether they are cooked through, take one out of the oven and tap the base; it should sound hollow. When they are ready remove the rolls from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Quick sour-dough

In humid and warm weather, mix some flour and warm water with fresh grape or apple juice to make sloppy dough: equal amounts each of flour, warm water and juice. Leave this on a warm window-sill to absorb the natural yeasts in the air. It will begin to ferment and the longer you leave it the sourer it becomes, but it may be used after three or four days. Simply incorporate it into your dough with the yeast and water in the basic bread recipe above.