Garlic Parsley Hearths

This is for one of those days when you’re feeling a tad adventurous in the kitchen and want to play a gorgeous 1950’s housewife. What other way to role play than with a delicious home cooked meal, right? So go on, hit play on Edith Piaf’s la vie en rose and get cooking.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

500 g all purpose white flour

7 g instant yeast

1 tablespoon salt

300 ml warm water

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 large garlic heads

Flat-leaf parsley

Salt, pepper and Italian herbs to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl.
2. Pour 300 ml of warm water into a separate bowl and stir in the olive oil.
3. Next, mix the wet ingredients with the dry ones to make a soft dough.
4. Flip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until smooth, supple and elastic.
5. Mold the dough into a little ball.
6. Oil a large enough bowl and turn out the dough into it.
7. Roll it around until it’s coated with a thin layer of oil all round.
8. Cover the bowl and leave to grow for an hour.

FOR THE TOPPING:

1. Peel and saute the garlic on a low heat until soft and golden. Be careful not to overcook them or they will make the bread taste bitter.
2. Once the garlic is done, add this together with some parsley and extra virgin olive oil into a food processor. Blitz to make a fine paste.
3. After an hour or when the dough has risen to double its size, punch it down and leave to rest for another 10 minutes.
4. After 10 minutes, divide the dough in two batches.
5. On a parchment lined baking tray, roll out each ball of dough to form a curved rectangular shape. Press the dough out a little more using your hands.
6.  Transfer the rolled out bread onto the baking tray and cover with a tea towel.
7. Leave to stand for about 25 minutes.
8. Press your fingers randomly over the top of the bread to form the characteristic dimples usually found on focaccia bread.
9. Pulse the parsley, garlic and oil mixture once more in the blender and lather this over the flat bread.
10. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
11. Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the flat bread is cooked.
12. The flat bread should be golden in parts with the garlic flecks being slightly darker in color.
13. Remove from the oven, drizzle over more olive oil and a sprinkling of salt if needed.
14. Pair this with a good old glass of white wine and I promise, you’ll love me forever.