Basic White Rustic Loaf

I love it in restaurants when they give you a basket of different breads along with some butter and oil for nibbling before your meal so I decided to make some bread when my family came for dinner one night.

This was a great simple recipe I found on channel 4 from delicious magazine.

I split the dough into 3 and made a loaf with sundried tomatoes in the middle, a loaf with black olives in the middle and a plain one. The baking time was half what the recipe below states because of this split.



Basic White Rustic Loaf
Source: channel 4 from delicious magazine.
Makes about a 750g loaf/12 slices

Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp fine salt
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
300 ml warm water
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing

Recipe
1. Mix together the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl. Create a well in the centre and slowly mix in the water and the oil until the dough comes together – if the dough is very dry, add a little more water.
2. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth, on a lightly floured surface.
3. Shape like a rugby ball and put onto an oiled, large baking sheet. Leave to rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 220°C. Make slashes with a sharp knife in the top of the dough and dust with flour. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until risen, golden and cooked. Cool on a wire rack and slice to serve.