A new bread recipe

We were inspired by River Cottage Everyday which was on telly the other night.  Ava saw them making bread and suggested it would be  great activity to do together.  So, on Saturday we had a go.  It's quite lovely and very simple.  The crust is very crisp and crunchy and it's quite similar to an Italian style loaf.  
It's just four simple ingredients.  Some kneading and resting of the dough and then the baking.  
The ingredients are;
- 1 kg flour
- 10 grams yeast
- 15 grams salt
- 600 mls warm water
Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl and add the warm water.  Mix with your hands until it comes together in a sticky ball.  

Then start to knead for about 10 minutes.  It's quite a relaxing process - good thinking time!

 and a bit of an arm workout!

Once the dough is smooth and stretchy, shape it into a ball by rolling it between the outside of your hands

Then place into an oiled bowl

cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size - about one and half hours

Once risen, tip out of the bowl and knock back by pressing your fingertips into the dough until well flattened.  Then split the dough into two pieces and shape each into your desired shape.  I did another ball shape.  Place on a well floured board and cover with a  damp tea towel.  Leave to rise again in a warm spot for about 45 minutes.  
Preheat a large baking sheet in a hot oven. 
Once your loaves have risen, slash the tops with a sharp knife to give extra room for rising and place them very carefully onto your preheated and well floured baking sheet (no oil necessary) and back into the oven.
Bake for about 40 minutes in a hot oven until well browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Enjoy the same day, warm with butter - it's really, really good!
Ava took all the photo's for this post - except the one of herself! We were slightly sidetracked at the second rising stage, so apologies for the lack of photo's there!
Happy baking!