Pizza and Pasta 2 for 1.....Spelt & Rye bread tasting...episode 2 of Spain
Well the spelt and rye bread survived the night. I looked it up on the internet this morning and was reassured by lots of other bakers that it doesn't hold a domed top, so I didn't need to feel bad about my flat topped loaf, although I think I was a little short on salt and that sometimes helps to keep it nice and rounded.
The bread looked good, not too dense, a nice open texture. It was quite difficult to cut, because it was so fluffy, but it was too hot to put in a plastic bag last night and I've recently found that storing the bread in bags makes cutting thin slices easier (if that's what you want!). It had a nice soft and slightly grained texture, and tasted like a very mild wholemeal with a golden colour. It certainly made a lovely cheese sandwich for lunch and Lauren had it toasted with apricot jam for tea and ate a whole slice even the crusts, quite an event!
Spelt and Rye Bread
If you make bread and are interested I used 1 cup of water, half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of honey, one and a half teaspoons of salt (think should be 2 teaspoons), 1 cup of rye flour, 1 cup of spelt flour, 2 cups of strong white flour and a packet of dried yeast. In that order into the breadmaker and baked on a wholemeal or rapid wholemeal setting.
It was ballet, tap and modern tonight, so I didn't get in until 6:30 my head pounding with the ringing of tapping feet...oh just to clarify the class was Lauren's not mine! Tony had gone to visit ma and danda so we needed a quick tea. I didn't fancy anything from a packet, so I thought I'd show you an alternative topping for the speedy pizza recipe that I blogged about 27 June 2011 (see that page for the recipe for the base). Some of the topping was left over after making the pizza and this is where the 2 for 1 comes from, I've saved it in the fridge for Tony to have with pasta tomorrow while I am out at Yamas!
Ratatouille Pizza
For the topping I fried in olive oil a sliced red onion and 2 finely sliced cloves of garlic. To that I added some aubergine (2 thick slices cut into cm dice). Then a sliced red romano pepper, a courgette - cut into quarters lengthways and diced and about 4 sliced mushrooms. When they had softened I added a good glug of red wine and turned the heat up to reduce it. Next I stirred in 2 tablespoons of tomato purée and a drained tin of chopped tomatoes, reserve the juice in case the sauce becomes too dry when cooking. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. I also added some dried basil, but you could add fresh herbs or some dried mixed herbs and if you like then I also added some dried chillies to give the topping a bit of a kick.
While it was cooking I prepared the base as per the original recipe, let it cook underneath and then placed the dough in the pan under the grill, this was to stop the topping making the base soggy. When the base felt crusty to touch, i spooned over the ratatouille and topped with slices of mozzarella and grilled until browned and bubbling.
It was delicious, packed a punch and definitely gave us our 5 a day!
While eating said pizza, we watched the second episode of Spain and I must say I really loved it this week, even forgiving Rick his mispronunciations, especially as he finally cleared it up that you should always say cho-ree-tho and never cho-ritzo! He travelled around the Basque country and down towards the Costa Brava, both places I have visited, so lots of nostalgic feelings again, especially as he travelled Cantabria to the Pais Vasco as we did that journey travelling from Santander to Bilboa in 2006. He did much more cooking this week, he still changed the recipes but I am keeping the programmes so I can make my own recipes in the future. It's really given me the bug to get back on the ferry and go and investigate that area again, but as all 3 of our passports have lapsed I think it's a bit pie in the sky at the moment! He also visited a lady making chorizos which made me want to try and make them even more..but have to wait for autumn.
And for those of who who are doubting that the scenery outside Rick's kitchen, here's some pictures from our trip in 2006 that may prove it really is the real deal......
The bread looked good, not too dense, a nice open texture. It was quite difficult to cut, because it was so fluffy, but it was too hot to put in a plastic bag last night and I've recently found that storing the bread in bags makes cutting thin slices easier (if that's what you want!). It had a nice soft and slightly grained texture, and tasted like a very mild wholemeal with a golden colour. It certainly made a lovely cheese sandwich for lunch and Lauren had it toasted with apricot jam for tea and ate a whole slice even the crusts, quite an event!
Spelt and Rye Bread
If you make bread and are interested I used 1 cup of water, half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of honey, one and a half teaspoons of salt (think should be 2 teaspoons), 1 cup of rye flour, 1 cup of spelt flour, 2 cups of strong white flour and a packet of dried yeast. In that order into the breadmaker and baked on a wholemeal or rapid wholemeal setting.
It was ballet, tap and modern tonight, so I didn't get in until 6:30 my head pounding with the ringing of tapping feet...oh just to clarify the class was Lauren's not mine! Tony had gone to visit ma and danda so we needed a quick tea. I didn't fancy anything from a packet, so I thought I'd show you an alternative topping for the speedy pizza recipe that I blogged about 27 June 2011 (see that page for the recipe for the base). Some of the topping was left over after making the pizza and this is where the 2 for 1 comes from, I've saved it in the fridge for Tony to have with pasta tomorrow while I am out at Yamas!
Ratatouille Pizza
For the topping I fried in olive oil a sliced red onion and 2 finely sliced cloves of garlic. To that I added some aubergine (2 thick slices cut into cm dice). Then a sliced red romano pepper, a courgette - cut into quarters lengthways and diced and about 4 sliced mushrooms. When they had softened I added a good glug of red wine and turned the heat up to reduce it. Next I stirred in 2 tablespoons of tomato purée and a drained tin of chopped tomatoes, reserve the juice in case the sauce becomes too dry when cooking. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. I also added some dried basil, but you could add fresh herbs or some dried mixed herbs and if you like then I also added some dried chillies to give the topping a bit of a kick.While it was cooking I prepared the base as per the original recipe, let it cook underneath and then placed the dough in the pan under the grill, this was to stop the topping making the base soggy. When the base felt crusty to touch, i spooned over the ratatouille and topped with slices of mozzarella and grilled until browned and bubbling.
It was delicious, packed a punch and definitely gave us our 5 a day!
While eating said pizza, we watched the second episode of Spain and I must say I really loved it this week, even forgiving Rick his mispronunciations, especially as he finally cleared it up that you should always say cho-ree-tho and never cho-ritzo! He travelled around the Basque country and down towards the Costa Brava, both places I have visited, so lots of nostalgic feelings again, especially as he travelled Cantabria to the Pais Vasco as we did that journey travelling from Santander to Bilboa in 2006. He did much more cooking this week, he still changed the recipes but I am keeping the programmes so I can make my own recipes in the future. It's really given me the bug to get back on the ferry and go and investigate that area again, but as all 3 of our passports have lapsed I think it's a bit pie in the sky at the moment! He also visited a lady making chorizos which made me want to try and make them even more..but have to wait for autumn.
And for those of who who are doubting that the scenery outside Rick's kitchen, here's some pictures from our trip in 2006 that may prove it really is the real deal......
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| Mountains at back of hotel Fuente De |
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| View from our window of Fuente De Parador |
I enjoyed this blog, it brought back memories, especially the scenery photos. Of couse living here in Galicia i am biased and believe the food is second to none, the people and scenery are fantastic.
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