Carta di musica with olive, rosemary and anchovy salsa

Anchovies are one of those ingredients that split people. Katie hates the little oily, salty strips and will pick up their scent however well concealed in a sauce, under a heap of cheese on a pizza or poked into chunks of lamb. I know that screwed up face and “oh! There’s anchovies in here!” very well indeed. But I adore the things. I always remember my mum eating them straight out of those shallow tins when I was young, and I’ve enjoyed that tangy kick ever since. I’ll find any excuse to put them into a dish. And although punchy in their own right, used subtly they deepen, round off and enhance. But she will always notice. 

 
On the other hand I deplore marmite. I used to bite into my brothers sandwiches by accident and pull that exact same creased expression. I’m often urged to spoon it into mash, sauté with mushrooms just try again on toast but I can’t. So swings and roundabouts I guess.
 
Back to those glorious anchovies. I’ve always had a vastly more savoury tooth, and often crave the deep hit of something salty. Crisps over chocolate any day of the week. Our rosemary plant has been flowering of late, releasing lovely fragrant pine just outside the back door. Recently at work I had an idea of crushing up a few sprigs with more of those anchovies (there is *always* a jar in the fridge) and some green olives. Tapenadey I guess, but a whole lot more rustic, with chunks of individual components giving little bursts of flavour. Even at work I could taste it; I almost ran the four miles back home.
 
But I couldn’t just sit there spooning this delicious concoction into my gob (I totally could and would). I needed some sort of carrier. A good sourdough or focaccia from my local and brilliant Spence or E5 bakeries would normally be the quick answer. But I’ve been criminally quiet on the baking front of late, and thought the whole thing would be that bit more satisfying as a result. I’d stumbled across a recipe for Italian ‘music bread’ a few weeks before and was astounded at how easy they were to knock up. In the fading evening light I dug out the trusty pasta machine, whacked the oven on full blast and the brittle, almost transparent bits of dough worked a treat.
 
Makes a fair few sheets, but they don't hang around for long.
 
Ingredients:
 
For the carta di musica:
 
200g Italian 00-grade flour, plus more for dusting 
4 good tablespoons of polenta 
150ml water 
1 tbsp olive oil 
Sea salt
 
For the olive and rosemary salsa:
 
A handful of green olives, pitted 
4 anchovy fillets 
1 garlic clove 
4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped 
1 tbsp capers, rinsed 
1 lemon, zest and juice 
A pinch of dried oregano 
A pinch of dried chilli flakes 
Extra virgin olive oil
 

Preheat the oven to 220⁰C.
 
Tip the flour into a bowl and mix with the polenta and a generous sprinkle of salt. Form a well in the middle and pour in the water and the olive oil. Work into a dough, adding a little more water or flour if necessary to achieve a smooth consistency. Knead well to release the glutens until the dough has a soft, elastic texture. Roll until thin, dust with a little more flour and then pass through each gradient of a pasta machine until it reaches the thinnest. 

 
Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper and brush with a little olive oil. Top with the thin strips of dough. Brush with more oil, sprinkle with a bit of salt and bake in batches for 5-6 minutes, or until very crispy and starting to brown in patches.
 
To make the salsa, put the garlic, olives, lemon zest and juice, anchovies, capers, oregano, chilli flakes, and chopped rosemary into a large pestle and mortar. Beat well until everything is finely combined. Pour in enough extra virgin olive oil to loosen into a spoonable salsa. Taste and add salt, pepper or lemon if needed.

Everything bagels

A soft, chewy bagel stuffed with cream cheese, smoked salmon, dill and lemon has got to be up there as one of my favourite things to have for lunch. In London I am spoilt for choice with the amount of bakeries making them just a stones throw from my flat, often open around the clock for when that bagel craving comes a knocking. After a couple of drinks, a salt beef bagel from Brick Lane beats any kebab hands down!

As I have written on this blog before, I’m still a bit of a novice when it comes to bread making. I can bake a simple white loaf, but am yet to experiment with more advanced things like sourdoughs or ryes. I thought that bagels would be really difficult to make at home, but after a couple of attempts they are a doddle. Bread has a reputation for taking ages, but in reality most of this time is just waiting for the dough to prove. If you’re at home anyway it isn’t much extra effort, and so worth it when that glorious baking smell fills the flat.

I started making bagels using Dan Lepard’s recipe from his excellent book Short and Sweet. I cannot think of a more ironic title for this huge book, containing over 500 pages of fantastic breads, cakes and pastries. I have adapted this recipe by adding the roasted onions and garlic, reducing the yeast and water and by changing the baking methods slightly to create a bagel that is perfect for me. I have also doubled his quantities to make larger bagels. The best thing about this recipe (and most other bread recipes) is that it can be tailored to exactly how you want it. They would also be delicious with lots of dill, sun-dried tomatoes or even a hard cheese running through them. 

As for bagel fillings, the choice is yours. Aside from the smoked salmon or salt beef bagels that I love, they are also great with a soft cheese such as Tunworth or just simply toasted with loads of salty butter. If you go for the smoked salmon, it’s well worth searching out produce from Hansen and Lyndersen’s amazing North London smokery.

Makes 14

Ingredients:

1kg strong white bread flour

3 large onions, cut into large wedges

2 tbsp brown sugar

12 cloves garlic, left whole and unpeeled

12 sprigs of thyme

4 tbsp sesame seeds, plus more for sprinkling over the top

4 tbsp poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling over the top 

1 1/2 tsp dried yeast

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 large pinches salt

500ml warm water

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Olive oil

For the poaching:

50g brown sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.

Put the onions, garlic and thyme into a large oven tray and toss in a little olive oil and seasoning. Roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes before removing the softened garlic and scattering the 2 tbsp brown sugar over the remaining onions. Put the onions back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes until soft and golden. Peel the skins from the garlic cloves and chop finely with the cooked onions. Allow to cool. 

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, caster sugar, seeds and cooled roasted onions and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and vinegar and combine until the mixture forms a firm dough, before covering the bowl with a cloth and leaving for 10 minutes. Once rested, knead the dough for 10 seconds on an oiled surface and then return again to the bowl. At this point the dough will still be quite sticky, but it will firm up by the end. Repeat the kneading and resting process twice more before allowing the dough to rest in the bowl for 1 1/2 hours. 

Using your hands, portion the dough out to the size that you want each bagel to be. This recipe makes around 14 large bagels. Shape each piece into a ball by rolling it on the work surface with one hand, cover loosely with cling film and allow to prove again for 20 minutes. 

Heat up a large saucepan of water, adding the brown sugar when it reaches a rolling boil. Put the oven on to 200ºC. Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper and scatter over some seeds.

Once the dough balls have proved for the final time you can make them into bagel shapes. With lightly oiled hands, poke your fingers through the middle and ease the dough outwards. 

Carefully drop the bagels in small batches into the boiling water for a minute before turning and allowing the same on the other side. Remove and place on the lined and seeded baking trays. Sprinkle more seeds and salt over the tops and they are ready to bake. 

Place the baking trays on the top shelves of the pre-heated oven, and tip a small glass of tap water into the bottom of the oven before closing the door. The water will steam up and keep the outsides of the bagels nice and soft. Remove from the oven after 20 minutes and allow to cool slightly on a rack if you can resist for long enough!

Flour and water, pizza and bread

Flour and water

Bread making, and a lot of baking in general makes great use of simple ingredients, and often ones that you have stored up in the cupboard. It does take a little longer than going to the shop and buying a loaf, but the results are often far better, and you can personalise each recipe to exactly how you want it. There is also nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread wafting around the house, and that first buttered slice while still hot is immense. 

I’ve always loved the idea of getting into baking bread regularly, but never managed to get around to it for one reason or another. Recently, quite by accident, I made my first loaf since I was at primary school by using the tail end of some pizza dough.

Following the recipe for Jamie OIiver’s pizza dough one night, I ended up with loads of the dough left over. More out of interest that intent, I kneaded some olives into it and threw it into the oven. After roughly guessing the oven temperatures and heat, I eventually pulled out the cooked dough and hey presto - bread! It basically looked like a cooked slug, with little shape, but once cut open and smeared with butter it was lovely. 

Since then I have got a bit of a baking bug, and every time I make pizza, I always make enough extra dough for a couple of loaves on the side.  

Pizzas

The price of a takeaway pizza at the moment is quite frankly shocking, with a large one being around £16.00. I often have a craving for a big, dirty pizza, but with a bit of planning ahead, making it yourself is really easy and much cheaper. You always seem to have to wait about 45 minutes for a delivery, but once the dough is made and proved, you can roll and cook a pizza at home in a fraction of that time. I like to make the dough and sauce the night before, so it’s all ready to go when I want it. 

Once you know how to make the dough, you can be as creative as you like with the sauce and toppings. I find that keeping to a couple of ingredients is better than pilling on a bit of everything, and also that a tower of toppings will not cook evenly, so moderation is best. 

Ingredients:

For the dough:

Makes 2-3 large pizzas

500g strong bread flour or ‘00’ pasta flour

50g uncooked polenta

325ml warm water

1 sachet quick action yeast

glug of extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp caster sugar

large pinch of salt

For the tomato sauce:

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 shallot

2 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp tomato puree 

2 tbsp sugar (or to taste)

salt and pepper

A selection of cheese and toppings of your choice. For this post I went for buffalo mozzarella, parma ham, mushrooms, red onion, chilli and rosemary.

To make the dough, mix the flour, polenta and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a jug, measure out the warm water, and stir in the yeast, sugar and oil. 

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, then knead everything together with you hands. Knead it really well for 5-10 minutes, adding more flour or water if necessary, until you have an elastic ball of dough that springs back when you poke it with a finger.

Give your mixing bowl a quick clean and place the dough back in it. Add a very small amount of olive oil and coat the outside of the dough - this will help it not stick to the sides as it rises. Cover with cling film or a tea towel and leave near to the oven, or in a warm place, until it has doubled in size (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours). 

While the dough is rising, make the tomato sauce. Soften the shallot, garlic and chilli in a large frying pan, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano and sugar. Season and bring to the boil before letting reduce on a medium heat, stirring often, until it has thickened up. Allow to cool.

Once the dough has risen for the first time, break it into balls for the amount of pizzas that you are making - 200-250g will make a large pizza. Knead the balls a little and then place each one in a separate smaller bowl which will allow them to rise again by double. Add another small coating of oil, cover and leave these for another hour. This may all seem like a bit of a faff, but it makes the rolling of the dough so much easier when you come to it. 

After the portioned dough has risen again, roll each dough ball out to the size that you like it. I prefer a thinner pizza that will crispen in the oven and that has more room for toppings.   Wrap the rolled dough around the rolling pin and transfer to a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Pre-heat your oven to 230ºC.

The pizzas are all ready to be topped now, so spread a thin layer of your sauce on first before adding your cheese and other toppings. 

To cook, place your pizzas and greaseproof paper directly onto the shelf of the really hot oven. Cooking times vary on the thickness of the pizza and amount of toppings, but should be done in 6-10 minutes. Just keep checking every couple of minutes until everything is to your liking - I prefer my cheese starting to brown and the edges nice and crisp.

They are ready to serve as soon as they come out, but at this point you can also add things like rocket, sprinkled hard cheese such as parmesan or pecorino, and a drizzle of olive oil. 

As well as being great for a night in, they are also useful when cooking for lots of people, or getting bored kids involved. 

Bread

The above dough recipe can also be used to make fresh white bread. It is really simple, and a good starting point if you are interested in making bread. The finished loaf is delicious and soft, and impossible not to eat whilst still warm. It tastes like a basic white bread, but you can make it more interesting by adding various ingredients before you bake it. For this recipe I have made an onion, garlic and thyme bread.

Makes 1 very large loaf.

Ingredients: 

1 pizza dough batch from the recipe above

3 medium onions, sliced

5 garlic cloves, skins on

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC

Firstly, make your dough as instructed above and allow it to rise for the first time.

Meanwhile, roast your sliced onion, garlic cloves and thyme in the olive oil in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the onion is soft, do do not allow it to get crispy. When cooked, drain on kitchen paper and allow to cool before peeling the skins from the garlic and roughly chopping. 

Turn the oven up to 220ºC

When the dough has risen, instead of separating into balls for pizza, leave as a whole. At this point, knead the chopped roasted vegetables into the dough, adding a little more flour if it appears too greasy. Now stretch the dough into a flat, rectangular shape, and then fold in the corners tightly to make a round ball. Turn the dough over - this fold is the base that the loaf will sit on. 

You can now use your hands to shape the loaf to how you want it. Remember that it is going to rise again, so try and keep the dough in as tight a shape as possible. Place on a floured baking tray, cover loosely with cling film and allow to rise by 50 percent.

When risen again it is ready to bake. Place in the middle of the hot oven, and throw a small glass of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Bake for 20 minutes, before reducing the heat of the oven to 190ºC for 25-30 minutes. 

Once baked, leave to cool slightly before digging in with lashings of butter. 

This bread keeps really well for a few days providing that it is kept wrapped up. 

I’ve made this bread a few times, and although it’s great for ease, I now want to experiment with more complicated bread recipes. I recently bought Dan Lepard’s excellent new book Short and Sweet, which contains a wide range of bread recipes, along with loads of other baked goods. His style of writing and the layout of the book is really easy to understand, and I cannot wait to get started with some more advanced bread making. 

Bakeries

If making your own bread seems like a bit too much work, or you don’t have time, then I would thoroughly recommend bread bought from these two bakeries:

The Flour Station - Supplying restaurants and delis, as well as having their own market stalls, they produce really lovely artisan bread and pastries. Their Tortano Crown potato bread is amazing.

The Spence Bakery - This tiny little Stoke Newington bakery sells out of bread nearly every day. I always try and get one of their multiseed loaves when I’m nearby, but every loaf (and sausage roll) we’ve tried from them has been delicious.