Let’s go nuts and combine the goodness of wholemeal spelt flour with the nutritiousness of walnuts. Walnuts are rich in healthy omega-3 fats and are very rich in anti-oxidants and protein. If that is no reason enough, Walnuts contain folic acid and copper, which is promotes heart health.

This is an easy no fuzz bread recipe, proved overnight with little yeast and no kneading involved.

Who connected us?!  This recipe is derived from the Spelt Ciabatta recipe from Silvia Colloca. I am a fan of this recipe because it is so easy to make and uses only a little bit of yeast.

Makes: 1 loaf| Preparation: 10 min| Proving: overnight| Baking: 45 min

Ingredients:

• 350g wholemeal spelt flour
• 200g strong white bread flour
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast (7 gram)
• 425ml water
• 3 tsp table salt (15 gram)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 ½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• large flat baking tin
• baking paper
• large bowl (3x size of all flour combined)

Making the dough:

1. In a large bowl, mix flour and yeast with a wooden spoon.
2. Gradually pour in the water and work with a wooden spoon to incorporated into the flour.
3. Add olive oil, walnuts and salt and keep mixing until all ingredients are well and throughly combined.
4. This is a sticky dough and does not require kneading.
5. Drizzle some olive oil over the dough and cover the bowl with cling wrap.
6. Proving: quickest option is to leave the dough in a warm spot for 6-8 hours. To develop more taste leave the dough to prove even longer. I always make the dough in the evening and leave the dough to prove overnight in the fridge and for another half day outside the fridge. After proving the dough should have doubled in size and show air pockets.

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Baking the bread:

1. Line a large flat baking tray with baking paper. Using a spatula or dough scraper, tip the risen dough onto the baking tray.
2. The dough feels a little wet, but do not add any flour. Dust some flour over the dough and cover with a towel. Leave for 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the oven at 220c (200c fan-forced). Put an empty metal bowl or skillet at the bottom of the oven to heat up.
4. Place the baking tray in the oven. Put about ½ litre cold water in the skillet to create steam. Immediately close the oven. (Some ovens do have a steam function which you can use instead).
5. Bake for 45 minutes (5 minutes longer when you did not spread the dough) or until golden and crispy.
6.  To test, tap on the bottom of the bread with your fingers. If it sounds hollow the bread is cooked trough. If not, bake for a few more minutes. You can flip it upside down to encourage the bottom to crunch up.
7. Let the bread rest on a wired rack at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before cutting. This allows the crust to dry slightly.

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Notes:

• Nuts! :I used walnuts in the recipe because they contain so much goodness. Feel free to use other nuts if you like.
• Figs: A very nice option is to add some sliced dried figs or dried dates. Perfect for using the bread with a cheese platter.
• Seeds: Another good healthy option is to add a tablespoon of seeds, like flaxseed, linseed or chia seeds.
• Flour: Don’t be tempted to use all purpose flour. All purpose flour is ok for cakes but has little nutritional value and does not develop a nice, tasty bread. White Spelt flour instead of wholemeal is perfect.
• Olive oil: The better the olive oil, the better the taste it adds to the bread. light olive oil has little to no taste, nice for cooking but does not add much flavour to your bread.
• No Sugar!: this dough does not need sugar to start the yeast to do it’s job.
• No warm water!:The water does not need to be warm to start the yeast either.
• No kneading!:Yes, this dough does not need any kneading.
• Salt: 3 teaspoons of salt looks like a lot, but you definitely need it otherwise the bread taste bland. We put in the salt after the yeast mixture is combined with the flour, otherwise the salt might kill the yeast and your bread will not rise.