USE YOUR LOAF
Barbecue Pizza Bread with Sweet Chilli & Pesto Prep 20 minutes plus 1-2 hours rising time Cook 10 minutes, makes 4 -5 pieces
1½ cups lukewarm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp active dried yeast (check the expiry date)
4 cups high-grade flour (or “strong” bread flour)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil Toppings
pesto
Thai sweet chilli sauce
I can’t even tell you how tasty this whole business is. The bread is delicious in itself — crispy, chewy and soft all at once with a lovely charred barbecue flavour, but then the flavours on top are, like, ridiculous. The bread is really easy to make, too. For a simpler topping, olive oil, salt, garlic and rosemary (or thyme) is a winner.
Combine the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl or jug, and whisk together for 10 seconds. Leave to sit for 5-10 minutes — wait until the yeast has started to go frothy on top.
Put the flour, salt and oil in a large metal or plastic mixing bowl. Add the yeast mixture and stir to form a craggy dough.
Tip out on to a clean benchtop and knead vigorously for 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and stretchy. Put your back into it.
Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave somewhere warmish and draught-free until it has roughly doubled in size — it may take 1-2 hours. (You can pop it in a turned-off oven with a bowl of just-boiled water if it’s very cold where you are.)
When the dough has doubled, remove from the bowl and divide into 4 or 5 pieces. Flatten each one to about 1cm thick, shape it how you want it, and leave on a generously floured tray out of the draught, until it starts to rise and puff up again — maybe 20 minutes or so.
Preheat a clean barbecue grill to a mediumhigh heat (no oil needed) and grill the bread for a few minutes each side until slightly charred and crispy. You can move it around a bit to get crisscross lines if you like.
When cooked, smother in whatever topping you like and eat immediately — don’t forget the salt and pepper. CHELSEA’S TIPS
Look at the label on your yeast — if it has the word “instant” on it, you can just add it straight to the flour. If it doesn’t, it needs to be activated first.
Although the barbecue is the most delicious way to cook this bread, you could also use the oven. Either place under a hot grill for a few minutes each side, or on a preheated pizza stone at 240C fan-bake for 5-10 minutes. You can then char it over a gas hob for a few seconds at the very end for a smoky flavour.
These are worth more than a little on the side.