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experimental spinach feta baguette
We used to have a Great Harvest bakery in walking/biking distance of our house, and occasionally they’d make a spinach feta bread that I liked well enough – particularly toasted, which brought out the best parts of it.
For whatever reason, it stopped being a Great Harvest and started being an independent bakery, and we kept going to it, but then it closed for a while and now it’s reopening as mostly a cafe. So I thought I’d do some experimental baking and create a similar bread, probably in baguette form since I’m good at that and it’s a safe starting point.
I was pretty sure they were using dried spinach, so I bought some fresh from the closest grocery and dried it myself. I also skimmed a bunch of other recipes for spinach feta, most of which were extremely unlike the bread I wanted, but which at least gave me some ideas for baking.
And then this past Sunday I went ahead and tried what I’d come up with, and not gonna lie, I’m really, really happy with how it came out. It’s like what I remember, but honestly better. It’s about as good un-toasted as my memory of the toasted version, and toasting the slices makes it better still, turning the crust into its own entity in a really tasty way.
Here’s my attempt to throw what I did into recipe form. If anyone tries it, please let me know how it goes! And what I’m missing, because I’m probably missing something in these instructions, something I just kind of assume.
Spinach Feta Baguette recipe (version 1)
(makes one loaf; maybe doubled for two.)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Dried spinach flakes (one bundle fresh from grocery, dried at home, however much that is)
- 1T honey
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2T olive oil
- 10g yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles
Preheat water for 30 seconds in microwave. Add honey and yeast, then stir to combine. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, until you have a good bit of foam.
At the end of that time, add 1T olive oil and whisk. Mix the combined result into 1/2 cup flour, and set aside in a bowl to become spongy.
Separately, combine remaining flour (1.5 cups) with salt and spinach flakes in a bowl; mix together with a dry whisk.
Heat a small pan with 1T olive oil over medium low. Take 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp dried onion flakes, and toast on stovetop until well fragrant – about two minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then mix with 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles and set aside for later.
Once the wet dough has become spongy, add it to the set-aside dries (remaining flour, salt, and dried spinach) and knead together for 10 minutes. Place into a bowl (oiled if necessary), cover with a damp towel, and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Extract the dough from the bowl. Form a dish out of the dough and fill with the feta and toasted seasonings. Knead together until well mixed, roughly three minutes.
Once well mixed, form the combined dough into a rectangle and shape into a baguette using an envelope fold.
Place raw baguette onto your preferred baking tray and slice three slices into the top, each 10-15mm/roughly 1/2 inch deep.
Cover with parchment paper and allow to proof/rise for 30 more minutes. While bread is proofing, place a metal tray onto a rack at the very bottom of your oven, with another rack halfway or just below halfway in the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Once oven is ready and proofing is complete, place baking tray onto the top rack, throw a few cubes of ice onto the metal tray on the bottom rack, quickly remove the parchment cover, and immediately close the oven door.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Makes one baguette. Allowing to cool is good, but the bread may be eaten warm. It is particularly good sliced and toasted.
Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.
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