Rustic french bread with shallot and rosemary

Baking bread is one of my favorite. It always brings warm memories from my childhood. I owe my passion to baking entirely to my Nana, as she had showed me great tips and secrets. To make a good bread you need to be patient. You also will need, good temperature in your kitchen as the dough need to rise. Since I am now resident of Dubai, I am just using the hot weather as an advantage and my dough is ready instead of 40 mins for 10. However the time is just to give you directions, but the important thing for you is to learn that almost every dough is ready when it double its size. The below recipe is for very delicious home made bread. The crust is crunchy and it is soft from inside. Whenever I made this bread we always eat it almost immediately after i pick it out from the oven topped with butter or cream cheese.

Ingredients:

– 500 g white flour

– 250 ml warm water

– 1 tablespoon olive oil

– 7 g dry yeast

– 2 teaspoons of salt

– 1 teaspoon of sugar

– 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley

– 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped rosemary

– 1 small shallot

– 2 cloves of garlic

Preparation:

Chop the parsley, shallot and the garlic.

Mix the water, yeast and the sugar and let them dissolve well. In a separate big bowl sift the flour and add the yeast mixture and then the oil and the rest of the ingredients. Knead the dough and leave it on a side (somewhere warm) for about 1 and 1/4 hours, or until it double its size. Then knead again and make one bread. Place it in a baking tray and sprinkle flour on it. Using a sharp knife, slightly make three cuts on the surface. Leave the bread to rest again for another 45 mins at warm place. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200 degrees and afterwards bake the bread for 20 minutes, then turn it on its other side and bake additional 10-15 minutes.