Tomato & Basil Bread

Sat, 3 October 2020

Tomato & Basil Bread

Chef: Krissy Gibson from 'Take The Cake'

Ingredients:
260mls warm water
7g active dry yeast (1 packet, or 3 teaspoons)
25mls olive oil (2 Tablespoons)
40g tomato purée (2 Tablespoons)
20g freshly-minced garlic (2 teaspoons or more, to taste)
480g self-raising flour
7g caster or granulated sugar (2 teaspoons)
7g salt (2 teaspoons)
7g dried basil (2 Tablespoons)
2g Italian seasoning or Herbes de Provence (2 teaspoons)

Method:
1. Combine yeast with a little of the warm water – 100 mls or so. The water should be very warm to the touch but not so hot that it would burn you. This will activate the yeast. Stir them together in a small bowl, set aside for five minutes.
2. Into the warm water you have remaining, add the olive oil, tomato purée and garlic. Stir together until blended, ensuring the water is still quite warm.
3. In a large bowl, combine all five dry ingredients until blended. Add the water/tomato mixture as well as the activated yeast. Combine the ingredients until you have a nice sticky dough.
4. Dust a clean surface with a bit of self-raising flour to coat your work space. Knead your dough on the surface for only a few minutes, ensuring all the ingredients have blended evenly together.
5. Coat a standard-size loaf pan with oil. Place your dough neatly in the centre of the pan, wrap loosely in a clean towel and set aside to proof. The dough should rise to double its size, so leave it for a minimum of 1 ½ hours. A high place in the kitchen or your hot press are good places. Alternatively, proof your dough in a 30-degree oven. The dough will not rise if it sits in a cold location. Proofing the dough for longer than this length of time is not a problem.
6. Once this time has passed, turn your oven on to 160 degrees Celcius. Remove towel from dough and place into hot oven. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is browned (up to one hour).