Sourdough Ciabatta with Olives and Rosemary

This is one of my all-time favourite bread recipes. I sometimes make it with no additions, or with a larger component of whole wheat flour, but it's always beloved by everyone who tries it. It's a wheat bread with character and texture, full of large holes that give it that nice artisanal look, and has plenty of aroma even if you don't add the olives and rosemary. Of course, why wouldn't you? Olives are one of my favourite things, and baked into a fantastic loaf of bread the become even better. The rosemary's herbal, resinous flavour goes well with them, creating a bread good enough to be eaten completely on its own.

It makes a great bread to eat with cheese or herbed olive oil, as well- or for making burgers or sandwiches. You can try it with green olives instead of black, or oregano or thyme instead of rosemary, for a twist. You can substitute 200-300 g. of flour for whole wheat or spelt to give it a more distinct flavour, too.

Sourdough Ciabatta with Olives and Rosemary
Adapted from Ketex

For the Sourdough:
50 g. Whole wheat flour
40 g. Water
5 g. Sourdough starter

Mix all and let sit at room temperature for 16-18 hours.

For the dough:
Sourdough
950 g. Bread flour
30 g. Olive oil, plus more to grease 
685 g. Water
22 g. Fresh yeast, or 7 g. Active dry yeast
15 g. Salt
1 Jar of black olives, drained
2-3 Sprigs rosemary, minced

Dissolve yeast in water along with sourdough. Mix in oil. Add flour and knead for 20 minutes on medium-high using a stand mixer, or until elastic and stringy. Add olives and rosemary towards the end by hand.

Divide the dough into two halves and place each in a ziploc bag greased thoroughly with olive oil. Let rise 1 hour, after each 30 minutes stretching and folding the dough from outside the bag by flipping and twisting it. 

Let rise another 45 minutes, then stretch and fold again. Empty bags onto a floured surface and either cut into buns or allow to remain in one piece. Let rise covered for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 220℃. Bake for 30 minutes for buns, or 44-55 for a whole loaf, spraying the interior of the oven with a spray bottle of water each 10 minutes. 

Spinach and Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is one of the first vegetarian dishes that come to mind for restaurants and dinner party hosts alike, it seems. Not that it's a bad thing- I'd just never felt inclined to cook it myself because it seemed like such a cliché. (It didn't help that they served some bastardised version of it at my very doomed prom a year back. And it was doomed from the start. It ended with a first fight with the DJ, 'nuff said).

But I found a thing of arborio rice in my cabinet and considered that I may not have given this ricey dish enough credit. I wanted to try it out myself, having white wine on hand as I rarely do.

I mostly stuck to the recipe printed on the rice bag with a few amendments. I made mine vegetarian using good-quality mushroom bouillon cubes (remember to check for MSG, which makes it taste like something from an instant noodle packet. Otherwise use homemade vegetable broth made with a few dried mushrooms or mushroom stems left over from other recipes). I also added spinach for some leafy green goodness (it goes well with creamy foods) and replaced some of the broth with milk (since I'd used light cream where I should've used heavy cream, I wanted to add more dairy someplace else). I reduced the oil and butter simply because it seemed to be enough for my tastes, but double up those amounts if you like it rich. Lastly, I added garlic, oregano and bay leaf as additional seasonings. 

The overall verdict on this recipe was resoundingly positive from everyone who ate it, myself included- if I'd realised how good homemade risotto could be I'd have started making it years ago. 

And if it's cliché... to hell with it, it's a delicious one- and worth trying at home. And the best part is you can cook the rice to just the degree of toothsomeness that you want. It's creamy, aromatic, comforting, and just cheesy enough. Have it with the leftover wine, since you only need a bit for cooking- it's the economical thing to do.

Spinach and Mushroom Risotto
Adapted from the recipe on the back of the Italpasta Arborio Rice bag

1 TBSP Olive oil
1 TBSP Butter
1 Bay leaf
3 Garlic cloves, minced
6 Cremini mushrooms, sliced (boletus would also work nicely if you can get it) 
1 Onion, finely diced
Pinch of salt
1/2 Tsp. Black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 C. Dry white wine
Sprig of fresh oregano, or 2 Tsp. dried oregano
2 C. Arborio rice
4 C. Vegetable stock made with mushrooms (or 4 C. water and 2 mushroom bouillon cubes) 
2 C. Whole milk (or 2% with a splash of cream)
1 Large spinach bunch
1/2 C. Parmesan, grated (or another similar hard sharp cheese)

Heat up half of the butter and olive oil to medium-high in a large skillet. Add the bay leaf and garlic. Cook until beginning to brown, then add the mushrooms and onion, along with the salt and pepper. Sauté until slightly browned, then add the wine. Cook for about a minute, then add the oregano and rice. 

Add the rest of the oil and butter and stir to coat the rice in the fat. Add about half of the stock and let cook covered until completely absorbed before adding the rest of the stock. Cook until somewhat tender, then add the milk and cook uncovered until thickened, stirring. If the rice still seems too firm when the milk is absorbed, add some additional wine or water and mix in.

Chop the spinach coarsely and add. Cover and let the spinach wilt before mixing it in, along with the parmesan. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as desired.