The West End guide to making things go further!
If you’ve run out of bread, don't panic- here are some easy and cheap recipes to follow at home
Easiest Flatbread recipe:
If you have flour you have bread, its as easy as that!
It never fails to surprise me how a little flour and water can be transformed into tasty bread.
There are no ingredient amounts below. Flatbread’s not like that. Combine water, flour and a pinch or two of salt; mix together until you have soft dough. That’s it.
Roll out into rounds- like a chapatti or wrap, if you don’t have a rolling pin a bottle works fine (good use for your empty wine bottles!)
The other key is to use a very hot frying pan or griddle. You can wipe the surface with a tiny bit of vegetable oil, but basically a dry pan works the best.
If you’re not in a rush, wrap your dough in clingfilm or a damp tea towel and let it rest on the work top for an hour or two, which will provide a little nicer texture. Having said that you can skip this step and they will come out fine.
2 Ingredient flatbreads
Ingredients:
250g plain yoghurt
250g self raising flour
(or equal quantities of both)
A little oil for rolling out
*If you don’t have scales use a mug- one mug of flour to half a mug of yogurt
To Make:
Mix the yogurt and flour together in a large bowl, then leave to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Divide the dough into 8 and roll into 8 balls.
Heat a small non-stick frying pan over a high heat and roll out your first flatbread to about the size of a side plate – use a little oil on the work surface to stop the dough sticking.
When the pan is really hot, put the flatbread in the pan and cook for 20 seconds, or until the flatbread is covered in brown spots (but not burnt!!)
Turn the flatbread over and cook on the other side for a further 20 seconds, or until covered in brown spots and cooked through.
While the first flatbread is cooking, roll out the second flatbread so it is ready.
Put the cooked flatbread on a plate and repeat the process, until all the flatbreads are cooked.
*TIP* ingredients can be added to make your flatbread more interesting, for example
bacon(crispy fried)
chorizo(lightly fried)
olives
(cooked) garlic
herbs - (parsley, coriander)
chilli
harissa
nuts(roasted/fried)
The secret to having things in your flatbread is to think about the texture. you don't want to be biting into a bit of grit in the middle of your tenderly soft flatbread.
Easy Soda Bread
Ingredients:
225 g plain flour
225 g wholemeal flour (If you don’t have wholemeal use all plain)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
500 g plain yogurt
splash of milk only if needed
extra flour for dusting
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
Put both flours in a large bowl. Add baking powder and salt and give it all a good mix. Alternatively, sieve all ingredients into a bowl but don't forget to add the bran from your wholemeal flour that will stay on top of the sieve.
Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and add the yogurt mixing everything in gently with the spoon until the dough starts coming together.
Turn the dough out onto the kitchen counter dusted with a little bit of flour and gently start bringing it all together to form a round loaf. You can always use a bit more flour if your dough gets really sticky or a tiny splash of milk if it's a bit dry but try not to use too much of either.
Put your loaf on the baking tray lined with some baking paper and cut a large cross in the middle of the loaf either with a knife or a dough scraper if you've got one. You want the cross to be deep (about two thirds way through the loaf) but at th
e same time you don't want to cut your loaf into 4 so be careful.
Dust a bit more flour over your loaf and bake it in preheated oven for 30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when you give it a little tap underneath.
Let it cool slightly on the cooling rack and enjoy!