This nubbly, nutty bread has been gracing my breakfast table this week. I’ve been enjoying its crumbly texture and earthy taste very much indeed. Perfect with cheese and jam or topped with scrambled eggs.
The recipe is adapted from one in Allegra McEvedy’s book Leon (a current favourite of mine not least because it comes with free stickers). She uses a mixture of five different herbs and spices all of which are claimed to encourage breast milk production hence McEvedy’s name for the loaf: Breast Feeding Bread. Not feeling the need to lactate myself, I made fennel the star of my own loaf.
Looking forward to eating this with a bowl of soup when the autumn comes around again.
Spelt and Fennel Bread
1tspn dried fast action yeast
300ml warm water
300g wholegrain spelt flour
200g strong white flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tspn fennel seeds
1 tspn carraway seeds
100g mixed nuts, bashed into pieces
3 tblspn olive oil, plus one to grease the tin
- Rub a loaf tin with a little olive oil.
- Whisk the yeast in the water and leave for 10 minutes until starting to froth.
- Sift the flours and salt into a large bowl and mix in the fennel, carraway and nuts.
- Add the yeasty water and olive oil to the bread and mix to form a dough. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth.
- Shape dough into a loaf and place in tin. Let risein a warm place for 4 hours until doubled in size.
- Bake in a 210 oC oven for 50 minutes.
- Remove from tin and cool.
A Wee Bit of Cooking 
The book sounds like an interesting one – and I didn’t know that there were spices and herbs to help lactation – maybe I should be eating them – hey, maybe I am and I don’t know it! Nice bread and I love that word nubbly – it will endear any bread to me!
No lactation required, eh??!!
I’ve been coveting that book for some time.
Love your instruction to ‘bash’ the nuts into pieces – perfect, perfect!
Wendy – I may give it a miss, just to not tempt fate. I feel as a 48yr old male I don’t have an urge to start lactating…
Good word though, nubbly… sums it up, I can almost taste the texture from the description.
Have a good weekend
I’ve been hearing a lot about the joys of spelt bread lately. Seems like I’m going to have to give it a try…
Nubbly is a great way to describe your bread and it would indeed be good with soup.
Oh my, that makes me want to reach out and grab a slice.
Oh my, what a gorgeous looking loaf. Am just thinking about it smeared with some honey and maybe a smidge of ricotta. Love all the seeds and nuts. Plus “nubbly” is such a beautiful word.