Spring Bread

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 32 min.	1 hour 50 min.	40 min.	4 hours 2 min.

Step by step recipe

Stage 1 - 4 min.

Prepare the flavouring mixture

Cut 250 g Parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan) into small dice and put in a bowl.

Stage 2 - 4 min.

Drain 250 g Preserved tomatoes and cut into small pieces. Add to the bowl.

Stage 3

We will only be using the chive flowers.

Stage 4

Pull apart the flower heads directly over the bowl and discard the stalks, which are very tough.

Stage 5 - 4 min.

Take off all the flowers like this.

Stage 6 - 2 min.

Pour 2 or 3 tablespoonsful of the oil from the preserved tomatoes into the bowl, salt and pepper, then mix everything together.

Note: if you cannot drain any oil off the preserved tomatoes, use herb olive oil or, if you have nothing else, plain olive oil.

Stage 7 - 1 min.

Flavour the dough

Put 1 kg bread dough into a food-processor bowl and tip the flavouring mixture in on top.

Stage 8 - 2 min.

Knead for 2 or 3 minutes, just until evenly mixed in.

Stage 9 - 1 hour

Gather the dough into a ball and transfer to a large, clean bowl, covered with a plastic sheet.

Leave to rest for 1 hour.

Stage 10 - 8 min.

Tip the dough out onto a floured worktop.

Weigh out lumps of dough of about 300 g.

Stage 11 - 20 min.

Shape into balls, cover with a plastic sheet and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Stage 12 - 7 min.

Roll the balls into short French sticks.

See the baguette recipe for more details in a video.

Stage 13 - 1 hour 30 min.

Lay the sticks in the moulds or tins.

Cover with a sheet of plastic and leave to rest for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Stage 14 - 40 min.

Bake the loaves

Preheat the oven to 460°F (240°C).

Slash the tops of the loaves and bake for about 40 minutes.

Note: As when baking any bread, you should ensure that the oven is filled with steam for the first 15 minutes of baking. This page shows you how; it really is the secret of golden-brown, crusty loaves..

Stage 15

Leave to cool before turning out.

	Bread dough: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Special Cheese and Walnut Sticks, Baker's tuna and mushroom tart, Surprise bread, Special Parmesan baguettes, Baker's chicken and potato tart, ... All
	Parmigiano reggiano (Parmesan): You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Pesto crackers, Tomato foccacia, Scallops with green asparagus tips and parmesan, Pesto, Broad bean salad with Parmesan, ... All
	Preserved tomatoes: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Pan-fried chicken breast on mozzarella, Pasta with pesto and preserved tomatoes, Canapés of red mullet with poppy seeds, Sushi, Cretan Bread, ... All
	Chives: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Broad bean salad with Parmesan, Warm lentil salad, Potato galette, Rémoulette dressing, Valay salad, ... All

Cooking-ez.com

For 5 loaves, you will need:

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