I have decided to make my first bread after watching Jamie Oliver making one on TV. It looked pretty simple to me so I thought I would give it a go. It is similar to Jamie’s recipe with a few differences. Bread from scratch.

Step 1: Ingredients

You will need 500 g of plain flour + some extra for kneading

1 tea spoon of salt

300 – 350 ml lukewarm water

1 sachet of dried yeasts & some seeds (linen seeds, sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds – or a mix like I had)

The seeds are optional.

Step 2: Directions

1. Sift flour into a large bowl. Add salt & water with dissolved dried yeasts.

2. Mix well with wooden spoon, if you see that the dough needs more water – then add more (the dough shouldn’t be too hard or too liquid).

3. Add seeds (as much as you like).

4. Now mix the dough again – you basically put the wooden spoon under the dough and lift it, repeat for at least 2 minutes, as fast as you can.

5. Sprinkle with flour, cover with a tea towel and leave it to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

6. Once the dough is risen, remove it from the bowl onto your work top and start kneading. At this stage you might need another good bit of flour – this will depend on how the dough looks like. If it is too liquid then you will need more flour. Knead until you are happy with the way your bread dough looks like (not too hard, not too soft).

7. Put it back in the bowl, cover and leave for another 10-20 minutes.

8. After 10-20 minutes, remove it onto your work top and knead it again. Form an oval shape & place onto baking tray lined with baking parchment.

9. Make a few cuts on the top of your bread dough. Place in the oven and bake at 200⁰C for 60 minutes or until the bottom is brown.

10. Final step – right after you take it out from the oven – brush it with salty water. Let it cool down before cutting.