No knead Bread with Olive Oil and Chorizo

No knead Bread with Olive Oil and Chorizo

This is the perfect lazy baking recipes – as there is no need to knead the bread with this clever technique.

Makes 1 round loaf
Preparation: 10 minutes plus 80 minutes (or up to 24 hours) resting
Cooking: 55 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups (450g) bread flour
2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary plus a few sprigs
10g instant yeast
1½ teaspoons salt flakes
1¼ cups (310ml) warm water
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
2 (approx 300g) chorizo sausages or sliced mushrooms for vegetarians
2 tablespoons (40ml) extra virgin olive oil, extra
1 teaspoon salt flakes, extra

Method

1. Place flour, chopped rosemary, yeast and salt in a large bowl.  Add warm water and olive oil and mix to form a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and rest at room temperature for an hour or in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
2. Remove the skin from the chorizo, slice one in half length ways and then cut it into thin slices.  Chop the remaining chorizo into small dice.
3. Lightly oil a work surface, or work on a sheet of baking paper. Place dough on top, shape into a round, sprinkle with the diced chorizo, then fold dough over on itself twice and lightly shape dough into a round. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for another 15- 20 minutes.
4. While dough rests place a large round flameproof casserole pot (with a lid) into a cold oven and turn on to the heat to 220?C.  After 15-20 minutes, carefully remove the heated pot from the oven.  Lightly grease it with olive oil and line with two thick 6cm wide foil strips that run over the base and up the side of the pot (this will help you remove the hot bread from the pot once the bread is cooked.) Carefully place the round of dough into the hot pot, using your fingertips make small indentations over the top of the dough. Top with sliced chorizo and rosemary sprigs, drizzle with the extra olive oil and sprinkle with the extra salt.  Cover pot with its lid and bake for 40 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes to brown the top of the loaf and crisp the chorizo.
5. Remove pot from oven, carefully lift out the loaf using the foil strips, serve warm.

Lyndey’s Note: Bread flour is what is known as a “strong” flour, one with a high gluten content – important in this recipe where we are not kneading the bread. Usually kneading develops the gluten in dough. Bread flour is slightly heavier than plain or all-purpose flour.

This recipe is from Lyndey Milan’s Baking Secrets TV series