Breaking Bread

We had my parents round to dinner last night so I was looking to try something new. I had decided to go with a chicken and pasta dish we've all come to love and a salad that used some of the baby spinach from my garden along with my tried and true apple pie for dessert. Hmmm... what else could I add in? Bread of course.

I found this bread recipe in an old issue of Australian Table at a junk sale a few weeks ago. I did have a couple of problems with it but they sorted themselves out in the end. I made the mistake of adding too much water - I didn't think the 200ml listed was enough but, you guessed it, it was. The initial mixing is quite difficult so keep at it, it does all come together after a while. Even without my extra splash the dough would have been very sticky - be sure and flour your workspace well and then have the flour on hand to keep adding it in. My bread needed a little longer in the oven than the suggested 30 minutes but it wasn't until we'd sliced into it several times that we discovered this so I'd suggest maybe 40-45 minutes cooking time.

The taste? Out of this world wonderful. It was bursting with flavour and absolutely delicious. Everyone from Miss Three up loved this and we all went back for more. I will definitely make this one again.

Zucchini and Rosemary Bread

from Australian Table magazine, May 2003.

500g (3 1/2 cups) self-raising flour

200ml warm water

2 sachets (2 x 7g) instant dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon salt (I'd go with a bit less next time)

2 zucchini grated (I used about 1 1/2 and that was fine)

2 tablespoons rosemary leaves, plus extra (I used 1 big tbsp of coarsely chopped leaves)

80g goats cheese, crumbled (yeah... I used Feta. It was what I had)

Preheat oven to 200C. Grease a large loaf pan.

Place flour in a bowl and make a well int he centre. Pour in water, then add years, sugar, salt, zucchini and rosemary.

Gradually push flour into the centre mixing gently, until flour has been incorporated. Coat hands with flour, then knead dough on a smooth floured surface for 5 -10 minutes, until smooth.

Place dough in a bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Knock back dough with hands for 1 minute, then knead goat's cheese into dough, until well combined.

Place dough in prepared loaf pan, cover and leave for another 30 minutes, until it has risen again.

Place rosemary springs on top of bread an bake for 30 minutes, or until bread is cooked and golden on top.