Spain: Spanish bread – Pan de horno

I was making paella this week, and while I considered writing about how I made that, my challenge for this year was to cook new recipes rather than repeat those I’ve made before. So to go with the meal I made these little Spanish bread rolls, not that you really need bread, but it was there just in case people were extra hungry.

 

The recipe is adapted from the Hairy Bikers recipe (omitting the olives), although if you search for pan de horno online you can find lots of others.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 250ml warm water
• 1 x 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast
• 450g strong white bread flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. A bowl add the warm water, yeast and sugar and leave for 10 minutes until it has a layer of foam on top.
2. In a separate bowl add the flour and salt and mix together.
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and then add the liquid mixture. Begin to mix together and when it starts to form a dough add the olive oil slowly to incorporate.
4. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, and then put in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film for around an hour.
5. Prepare a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
6. Take the dough, knock it back then divide it into eight pieces.
7. Shape each piece in to an oval shape by pulling the dough from the sides into the middle. Place them on the baking sheet with the smooth side up. Use scissors to snip the tops a couple of times. Cover with a tea towel for around 1 hour. In the mean time pre-heat the oven to 200oc.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a light brown colour. Then place them on a wire rack to cool.