Flatbread

Ingredients 500g plain flour (I used spelt), 5005 strong white bread flour, 10g yeast, 20g salt, 2 tbs olive oil, 325ml yoghurt, 325ml warm water.

Serves: 10-15 Preparation: 2 hours

Turkish style flatbread is fabulously versatile. Stuff (pitta style) to make cold sandwiches, hot pressed sandwiches, use as a vehicle for dips or top them pizza style with whatever you fancy. They are simple to make and keep well in an airtight container for about 5 days or can also be frozen to use later (though ideally for toasting as the texture will be affected somewhat.)

1) Stir the flours and salt together, then add the yeast to the yoghurt. Add the yoghurt to the flour and add the warm water. I highly recommend using a dough hook for mixing this - after the mixture begins to come together add the olive oil and then keep mixing for at least 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and silky. If you're mixing by hand... good luck with that!!

2) Flour your hands and shape into a round before transferring to a clean bowl. Cover with cling film or a plastic bag and leave to rise until the dough has doubled in size. This takes about an hour at room temperature.

3) Knock the dough back and leave it, covered, to rise for a second time. Purists will repeat this process for three or even four rises but truly I couldn't tell the difference in the finished flatbread so unless you want to spend all day in the house making flatbread I'd get it cooked at this point!

4) Dust your work surface generously with flour and tear off lemon sized pieces of dough (you can make these smaller or larger if you wish - if you have a big enough pan then you can make 10 good sized flatbreads) before rolling them out to 5mm thickness. Leave them to rise for at least 5 minutes.

5) You can make these with a frying pan and grill, or a griddle and grill. Heat your pan as high as you can and drop one piece of dough into it. If the pan is hot enough, after about 30 seconds you will see bubbles begin to form. Use a fishslice to just lift the dough and check for little spots of colour forming. Transfer the pan carefully to the grill (about 15cm from the heat, so middle shelf for most grills) and watch the flatbread bubble and then balloon! Drizzle with oil and serve or save.

Top tip. When it begins to char, it's ready. Just in case you're a bit nervous, here's a vine of my flatbread rising. Don't panic - it's supposed to do that!

Peanut butter bread

Ingredients 500g strong white bread flour, 7g yeast, 100ml apple juice, 200ml milk, 2 tbsp peanut butter (I like Whole Earth peanut butter), olive oil.

Preparation: 3 hours minimum

That phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" is such a misnomer. Anyone who makes their own bread will agree that the worst thing to happen to bread was the Chorleywood bread press. Processed bread has no soul and if you care about what you put in your body you will be horrified to read the ingredients on your shop-bought bread and discover that it's not just flour, yeast, salt and water but a whole host of preservatives, rising agents, bleached flours and even bread flavourings! It makes a person wonder if the reason we are the generation of food intolerances that you never heard about from our ancestors is because the food we eat bears such little resemblance to actual food.
But hippie rant over... this recipe makes utterly delicious bread. Fact!

1) Warm the milk gently in a pan, stirring the peanut butter into it until melted, then add the apple juice. If you want to use chunky peanut butter, this will leave you with a bit of texture in your bread - but sieve the chunks from the milk to add back in later.

2) By hand: Sift together the flour and yeast in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly add the milk mixture, stirring with a spoon until a sticky mass has formed. Tip out onto a work surface and rub your hands with olive oil. Work the dough - kneading and stretching out the glutens in the flour until you have a silky, smooth ball of dough that is no longer sticking to the work surface. By processor: add your dough hook attachment and add the ingredients. Personally I still think this dough benefits from being hand manipulated but if you prefer to use a machine that's up to you! If you are using chunky peanut butter, at this stage add the chunks back to the mixture by flattening out the dough a little, tipping them on and then working the dough back into a ball to spread them out evenly

3) Rub your hands and a clean bowl with a little olive oil, stroke the surface of the dough until lightly oiled and then add to the bowl. Cover with cling film or a plastic bag and leave somewhere warm for about 45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

4) Turn the dough out onto a work surface and "knock it back" - this doesn't mean pummel it violently, it means deflate it gently with your fingertips and then form it back into a ball for a second rising in a proving basket.

5) After knocking back the dough, you can leave this for a third or fourth rising (this gives it a better texture and flavour, but honestly this means staying in the house almost all day!) or get baking. Slash the top of the bread twice to allow it to rise, then boil a kettle of water and pour it into a roasting dish. This needs to go on the bottom of your oven to keep it steamy and moist. Now pre-heat the oven to 9 or 10 (basically your highest setting!) with a tray or baking stone in the oven and quickly transfer your ball of dough onto the baking tray/stone and shut the door.

6) After 8-10 minutes, turn down the oven. If a dark crust is forming quickly then bake for 40 minutes at gas mark 3. If it has just begun to colour bake it for 30 minutes at gas mark 4. If the dough looks the same colour then your oven is rubbish (sorry! Buy an oven thermometer and this will really help) and you will need to bake it for 40 minutes at gas mark 6.

7) When your time is up, carefully take the bread from the oven and shut the door to keep the heat and steam in, in case it needs further baking. You'll know it's ready if there is a firm crust on the top and the softer bottom sounds hollow when you tap it. Transfer to a cooling rack and don't be tempted to carve straight into it because you'll squish it and the remaining moisture in the dough will create a soggy layer at the bottom which will never go away. Sad bread. SAD BREAD! Once the bread has cooled for 20-30 minutes and is no more than a little warm to the touch you can dig in!

This makes amazing toast, lovely bacon and fried apple sandwiches but personally I like it spread with a good chocolate hazelnut spread.

Chocolate chip brioche

Ingredients 250g butter, 50g caster sugar, 7 eggs, 50ml milk, 400g white bread flour, 7g yeast, dark chocolate chips.

Serves: 12 Preparation: 4 1/2 hours (plus overnight)

Brioche contains a metrick fuckton of butter (technical term) so to me, a vegetarian who is just on the healthy side of a pretty sizeable cheese addiction, adding chocolate to the mix is madness, madness I tell you. Not only because brioche is simply perfect without additional adornment, but because it's really far too "cakey" a thing to do to brioche, which is bread. Not cake. Still - I had a request for chocolate chip brioche and as always, I deliver! Prepare yourself people, this is one hell of a high-maintenance bread but like anything that takes some effort, the results are worth it!

1) Bring the milk to the boil, and set aside in a jug until it has cooled almost to room temperature, then add the yeast. Set aside for at least 30 minutes to enable the yeast to activate.

2) Beat 4 eggs and 3 egg yolks, then add the sugar and salt. Pour in the yeast/milk mixture and beat until it has been incorporated. Finally add the flour and stir until it forms a rough dough. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and set aside for 30 minutes.

3) I'm not going to lie to you - this stage is a bitch, but it will all be worth it!
Scoop out the dough onto a clean work surface and cut the butter into small cubes.
Mix the butter into the dough with your hands, using a scraper to stop it from sticking onto the work surface. Kneed and rub the dough, stretching it and working it as fast as you can go until the butter has become completely incorporated and you are left with a soft, elastic dough. Stud with the chocolate chips, pushing them through the dough until they are evenly distributed.

4) Scrape the dough back into the bowl and re-cover with the cling film and leave to chill in the fridge overnight.

5) Divide the dough into either buttered loaf tins or separate into rolls (as I did here, slicing a pattern into the top with a knife). Set aside, covered for at least 2 hours to allow the dough to prove.

6) Brush the tops with a little beaten egg and bake at 220 degrees for 15 minutes. Drop the heat down to 180 and bake for a further 20 minutes, then leave to cool. Best served with a little butter.

Wholemeal Pikelets

Ingredients   350g strong bread flour,  1/2 tsp sugar, 400ml lukewarm water, 200ml lukewarm milk/buttermilk

Serves: 24 preparation: 1 1/2 hours


A pikelet is but half the size of a crumpet and is a deliciously flat, crispy treat that I remember making a lot as a child, but unlike crumpets, you very rarely see available to buy these days. These pikelets are PERFECT toasted with my lavender jam but I'm not going to lie to you - they don't look as pretty as those made with white flour which I'm trying to eat less of at the moment which is why I'm using wholemeal in this instance.


1) Sift the flour and sugar into a bowl and whisk in the warm water.


2) Gently warm the milk and whisk in. The mixture should have formed a fairly robust batter quite quickly but ensure it is whisked perfectly smooth.


3) Cover the dish with a warm, damp tea towel and leave it to prove somewhere warm for an hour.


4) Grease your ring *ahem* well and set in a frying pan or on a griddle to warm to a medium heat. Give the batter a stir as they're heating for about a minute.


5) Fill the rings with no more than 2 tablespoons of batter and cook for about 2 minutes. Touch the surface of the pikelet (carefully...) and if it feels relatively dry it's time to flip it over for 1 more minute.


You can eat the pikelets immediately from the griddle, but personally I prefer to allow them to cool on a rack and then to toast them. I make these in this batch size and then freeze the ones I don't want to eat right away.

Wholemeal Crumpets

Ingredients   350g strong bread flour,  1/2 tsp sugar, 400ml lukewarm water, 200ml lukewarm milk/buttermilk

Serves: 12 preparation: 1 1/2 hours


If you had asked me as a child what my favourite breakfast was, I would have said crumpets without a doubt. Some of my fondest memories are toasting them over a fire with my Nana and eating them piping hot, slathered with butter. As a teenager my brother and I liked to melt cheese on them, or even chocolate and if you've never spread them with chilli and baked them with an egg on top, well you just haven't lived! Last Saturday I was pretty horrified to see James Martin make some "quick" crumpets on Saturday Kitchen. Now crumpets are supposed to be holey and you only achieve this texture by allowing the batter to rise for an hour and form yeasty bubbles - these bubbles bust when cooking and leave you with the holes. These crumpets are PERFECT toasted with my lavender jam but I'm not going to lie to you - they don't look as pretty as those made with white flour which I'm trying to eat less of at the moment which is why I'm using wholemeal in this instance.


1) Sift the flour and sugar into a bowl and whisk in the warm water.


2) Gently warm the milk and whisk in. The mixture should have formed a fairly robust batter quite quickly but ensure it is whisked perfectly smooth.


3) Cover the dish with a warm, damp tea towel and leave it to prove somewhere warm for an hour. You want it to look like this...

4) Grease your ring *ahem* well and set in a frying pan or on a griddle to warm to a medium heat. Give the batter a stir as they're heating for about a minute.


5) Fill the rings with no more than 3-4 tablespoons of batter and cook for about 5 minutes. Touch the surface of the crumpet (carefully...) and if it feels relatively dry it's time to flip it over for 1 more minute.


You can eat the crumpets immediately from the griddle, but personally I prefer to allow them to cool on a rack and then to toast them. I make these in this batch size and then freeze the ones I don't want to eat right away.

Fig, olive & goats cheese pizza

Ingredients 200g very strong white bread flour      (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet    of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive    oil, 130ml warm water, 100ml passata tomatoes, smoked garlic, 100g goats cheese, 2 figs, 100g kamalata olives, balsamic vinegar.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


It's no secret that I love figs and goats cheese - I have posted recipes for tarts, salads, toasted sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed marrows, linguine and canapes (vegetarian and non) - all of which using the fig and goats cheese combination. There's a reason for this - it's quite frankly sex on a plate! This pizza is one of my favourites and because it just contains a little cheese and a thin crust it's relatively healthy as pizzas go. Try it topped with rocket and a little balsamic glaze.

1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside somewhere warm in a covered bowl to rise a little.


2) To make the pizza sauce I minced the smoked garlic (my new favourite ingredient!) into the passata tomatoes and added a little honey and balsamic vinegar to contrast with the goats cheese. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on a low heat.


3) Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface (as you'll see from the picture I rolled mine into a heart shape. A subtle indication of how much I love fig and goats cheese perhaps!?) until you have about a half centimetre thickness, then spoon the pizza sauce onto it and smooth it out.


4) Top with pitted kamalata olives, relatively thin wedges of fig (I cut in half, then cut each half into thirds) and rough chunks of goats cheese.


5) Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 220 degrees and serve.

Grape & feta calzone

Ingredients 3 stalks Rosemary, handful of pistachios, basil oil, feta, handful of   spinach, cinnamon, sherry, grapes, 200g very strong white bread flour (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive oil, 130ml warm water.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour


I can remember the first calzone I ate as a little girl; a thin crisp shell dusted with flour that released a cloud of fragrant steam when I hacked into it, followed by an ooze of cheese and tangy tomato sauce. This particular recipe was inspired by a filling Jamie Oliver made for a breakfast pastry which I knew would be enhanced, like anything, with cheese.


1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside.


2) Finely chop the rosemary and "bruise" in a mortar and pestle with a handful of pistachios until the nuts are crushed. Season with salt and pepper and about half a teaspoon of cinnamon, then stir in a tablespoon of basil oil and a teaspoon of sherry.


3) Roughly chop a good handful of spinach and quarter a good handful of grapes (I used seedless flame red grapes). Stir in the rosemary "pesto" and set aside.


4) Roll out the pizza dough to about half a centimetre thickness and cut out circles of dough (I used about 8cm diametre circles). Roll the circles a little thinner and dust one side with flour.


5) Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the filling onto each circle, adding cubes of feta (I used a 25 year barrel aged feta - the stronger the better for this recipe!) and then fold in half, ensuring the filling is evenly distributed.


6) Pinch the edges of the dough until it is sealed like a cornish pasty and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Baby leek pizza

Ingredients 200g very strong white bread flour     (grade 00), 1/4 tbs salt, 1/2 a sachet    of yeast, 1/4 tsp honey, 1 tbs olive   oil, 130ml warm water, 4 baby leeks, 100g mozarella, 100g cheddar, oregano.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes


I managed to get hold of some baby leeks today and fell in love with the sweet, delicate flavour of these tender young strips of yumminess. Smothering them with a mixture of gooey mozzarella and sharp cheddar made this a perfect lunchtime snack.


1) For a quick pizza dough: sift the flour and salt together and pour onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre and after dissolving the yeast, oil and honey in warm water, pour into the centre and mix with a fork until it is gradually combined. Dust your hands with flour and kneed until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Set aside.


2) Slice the ends from the leeks and quarter the stalks.


4) Sautee in a teaspoon of butter for about 3 minutes until soft.


5) Roll out the pizza dough on a flour dusted surface until thin and even.


6) Arrange the leeks directly onto the top of the dough, brushing any excess butter onto the dough surface and top with a mixture of grated mozarella and cheddar.


7) Bake for 8-10 minutes and serve with a sprinkling of oregano.

Rosemary fougasse

Ingredients Cream, lemon, garlic, bell pepper, passata, basil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, yeast, strong white flour, salt, olive oil.

1) To make the fougasse, mix 1 teaspoon of yeast in 300ml tepid water.


2) Mix 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt with 500g strong white bread flour and make a well in the centre of the flour. Pour in the water along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil bit by bit as your mix the dough together. 


3) Transfer to a well floured surface and knead firmly for 10 minutes. Once the dough is no longer sticky, and is elastic transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise somewhere warm for an hour to an hour and a half or until it has doubled in size.


4) Knock it back and kneed for 2 minutes, then form a flattened triangle with the dough and slice through the middle like the spine of a leaf. Cut 3 slashes in both edges and transfer to a pizza stone. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary and rock salt and bake for 20 - 25 minutes with a bowl of water in the edge to form a nice crust. Tear off pieces of bread and dunk into the dips.


To make the dips


1) Roast a bulb of garlic in the oven for 30 minutes, squeeze the garlic from the skin and crushing it in a garlic press. Stir into soured cream and chill.


2) Roast 2 bell peppers for 30 minutes and blend along with a tablespoon of passata tomatoes, a splash of balsamic vinegar and a handful of chopped basil.

Chilli chai teacakes

Ingredients 225 strong white bread flour, 225      strong wholemeal flour, 55g butter  cut into small pieces, 7g yeast, 30g   caster sugar, 170g dried fruits,  300ml milk, salt, 2 teapigs chilli chai teabags.

Teapigs make, without a doubt the best tea I have ever tasted - unlike most tea it comes in tea temples (little silk bags, not paper) and contains real tea-leaves (not dust). Gorgeous tea also makes gorgeous teacakes so give Teapigs a try.


1) Warm 300ml milk and add 2 chilli chai tea temples to infuse in the milk.


2) Sift together the 2 flours, yeast and a pinch of salt and rub in the butter.


3) Stir through the dried fruits (I used cranberry, sultana and raisins) and make a well in the centre of the bowl. Pour in the tea infused milk and mix through until a dough is formed.


4) Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it is smooth, then set to rest somewhere warm in a covered bowl for 2 hours (or until the dough has doubled in size)


5) Knock back the dough and knead again for a further 5 minutes on a floured surface before separating into 8 dough balls. Leave to rise for an hour before baking for 15 minutes.


These teacakes will keep for 2-3 days but are best toasted and eaten the same day.