Soda Bread al Rosmarino
This rosemary soda bread is a perfect accompaniment to any salad, soup etc - and goes wonderfully with my Fagioli, Cipolla Rossa e Mozzarella salad.
I love homemade soda bread, but by adding rosemary it gives the loaf that Italian touch! The smell in the kitchen is just wonderful.
I made my own buttermilk as it’s sooooo easy. You just sour the milk of your choice with either lemon juice or white wine vinegar. If you are dairy intolerant or vegan, just use oat milk instead.
Its such a simple and quick bread to make - resulting in a crunchy crust which is moist and crumbly inside, with the herby flavour of rosemary throughout.
Mangia, mangia! 👩🏻🍳
Rosemary Soda Bread recipe:
450g plain flour
To make your own buttermilk:
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar in 300ml of milk. Milk can be whole/semi-skimmed . Note use oat milk for dairy free
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsps of finely chopped fresh rosemary
Makes about 14-15 slices
1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Dust a baking tray with flour.
2. To make your own buttermilk either use semi-skimmed or whole milk, don’t use skimmed milk as it doesn’t have enough fat in it. Note - if you are vegan or dairy intolerant use oat milk instead. Another tip is to warm your milk slightly in the microwave for 30-40 seconds before adding the 2 tbsps of fresh lemon juice or white wine vinegar. Leave for a short while to curdle.
3. In a large bowl add the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and chopped rosemary and give it a light mix.
4. When your milk has slightly curdled (after about 10-15 mins) slowly add this to your flour mixture and start to bring it together into a ball of dough. Note - if you used oat milk instead it won’t curdle as much as dairy milk, but don’t worry as that’s fine. Don’t add all the milk at once as you probably won’t need it all. You want a dough that’s soft not sticky, but definitely do not overmix it.
5. Place the dough on your floured tray and form this into a round (see my picture) and make a shallow cross on the top with a sharp knife. Brush the reminder of the buttermilk all over the surface.
6. Bake in the oven for about 35-40 mins until golden on top. Turn the bread upside-down and tap it and if the bread sounds hollow then it’s ready - if not just cook for slightly longer.
7. Cool on a wire rack before tearing it or cutting into slices. It will keep for about 3-4 days in a sealed container. Delicious toasted too!
