Garlic & Thyme Bread

I have an Aerogarden hyrdoponic garden and am growing salad leaves and some herbs in it.  One of the herbs is Thyme which is flourishing so I needed to find a recipe to use some of the leaves.  I came across this recipe for Garlic and Thyme Bread on Goodfood and it is very simple to make.  I have already made it once, so I know that it turns out well and tastes great.

I have varied the recipe slightly, in the amount of thyme used.  The recipe on Goodfood says a ‘bunch’ of thyme.  I think time has a very strong flavour and ‘bunch’ is a rather imprecise measure.  So I chopped enough leaves to make a tablespoon full.  That was easily enough to impart a great flavour into the bread.  But, of course, using more would be fine for those wanting a stronger flavour.

The recipe can be done entirely by hand, which is probably best as this is only a small loaf, and doesn’t take too much time, apart from the 2 hours of resting/proving time.

The result is a very pleasing bread that is ideal, buttered, with soup.  It would also work well made into rolls I am sure, but I stuck with the loaf format.

Ingredients:

• 250 g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150 ml warm water
• 1 tsp (4 grams)dry active yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 bunch thyme, chopped ( chopped mine and used 1 tbsp)

1. Put the flour into a mixing bowl and mix in the salt, then make a well in the centre. 
2. Dissolve the dried yeast in the warm water and add the sugar and leave for 5 minutes. 
3. Pour the water and yeast into the well,
4. With a wooden spoon, start mixing the flour with the yeasted water, gathering the flour in from the sides, working outwards and make a firm dough. 
5. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 8 minutes. 
6. Flatten the dough into a circle and add the chopped garlic and thyme. 
7. Fold the dough over and then knead for a further 2 minutes until the garlic and thyme are mixed through. 
8. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. 
9. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/gas 7/430F, and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
10. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes and shape into an oval loaf. 
11. Make 2.5cm slashes in the dough with a very sharp knife and leave to stand for 10 minutes. 
12. Dust with flour and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. The bread is ready when you knock the bottom and it sounds hollow.
13. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.