Bread dough, 2 ways, 4 different meals - Day One

These are challenging times indeed. My intention here is to try and be both creative and economical with my store cupboard ingredients and the addition of some lovely, fresh ingredients.

With this basic dough recipe I made flatbreads and pizza. For the first meal the flatbreads were an accompaniment to homemade hummus, roasted peppers and some (delicious) store bought falafel.

I started with a very basic pizza dough recipe, split it in half and froze one half for pizza. I added nigella seeds to the flatbread half - though sesame seeds would do.

Hummus is a great staple and a reliable recipe is invaluable.

Roasted peppers - easy to cook and hugely flavourful, lifts the most mundane meal.

FLAT BREADS

Ingredients -

• 650g Strong White Bread Flour (or 00, if you have it)

• 14g dried yeast

• 10g salt

• 25ml EVO oil (extra virgin olive)

• 750ml warm water

• optional - 15g of Nigella or sesame seeds

• optional - garlic oil

Method:

For the dough

1. The easiest way to make this is all in one, with a stand mixer and a dough hook. I make a lot of pizza these days and have found that the best order to add ingredients is water (hand hot from the tap), yeast, oil, flour and lastly, salt.

2. Knead on high until the dough has come together in a ball and there is none left on the side of the bowl.

3. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave for an hour to rise.

4. Punch it down after it has risen and knead again for 5 minutes.

At this point, I split the dough in 1/2 and wrapped it in clingfilm and put into the freezer for another day.

Add seeds at this point, if you want them and knead them into the mixture

Split into 4 and roll out the breads into your desired size and shape - think about whether you're cooking them on a frying pan or cast iron sheet and choose your shape from there. I made mine Naan bread shaped because I used the sheet pan on my oven top.

Heat your pan and cook breads for 5 minutes each side. Drizzle, while hot, with garlic oil for the wow factor.

HUMMUS

Ingredients -

• 400g can chickpeas, drained, but keep 2 tbsp of the liquid

• juice ½ lemon

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp tahini paste

• optional - smoked paprika & toasted sunflower seeds

Method -

1. ​Whizz together the chickpeas, garlic, tahini paste, olive oil and lemon juice in a blender until smooth – loosen with a little of the preserved juice if you like. If you don’t have a blender, mash smooth with a fork or masher.

2. Sprinkle with smoked (or plain) paprika and sunflower seeds for texture.

3. Will keep in fridge for up to 5 days.

ROAST PEPPERS

Ingredients -

• 6 red peppers

• 30g (1oz) E.V. Olive Oil

• 1 tsp sea salt

• fresh ground black pepper

• chopped fresh parsley

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

• drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Method -

1. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C, 300 degrees F or Gas mark 2.

2. Place your peppers on the base of a cooking tin and roast for about an hour or until the skin is blistered.

3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool - preferably overnight.

4. Peel the skin and discard the seeds and stalks

5. Chop the peppers and add the last 6 ingredients