Roast garlic and herb hearth bread

Instructions

1. This is based on a Nigella Lawson recipe from How to Be a Domestic Goddess. I reduced the amount of garlic and replaced parsley with more robust herbs. I have also changed the cooking temperature and time. This bread is ideal for a strongly flavoured meat dish. We ate it with barbecued lamb neck fillet which was marinated in rosemary and harissa and it was bloody delicious.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Cut the tops off 2 bulbs of garlic and peel any excess skin away from the bulbs. Put into lightly oiled foil pouches and pop into the oven for about 45 minutes or until dark golden brown. You’ll know when they are done; the kitchen will smell drool drool. Set aside and allow to cool.
3. While that is cooking prepare the dough. You want a wetter dough than when making a normal loaf to produce an airy, foccacia-style bread. Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and pour in the oil and water. Combine and turn out onto a surface for kneeding. If the dough is too dry add more water. Kneed for 10 minutes (or put into a mixer with dough hook) until the dough is smooth, pliable and elastic. Clean the bowl you mixed the dough in. Put the dough back in, the warm bowl helps start the yeast fermenting, cover with clingfilm or a wet tea towel and put in a warm, draft-free place until the dough is doubled in size. This will take about an hour or so depending upon the ambient temperature. If you want to make this for the next day then you can put it in the fridge overnight. The yeast will react more slowly at the lower temperature and you can remove it the next day and leave to get to room temperature before proceeding to the next step.
4. Knock any air out of the dough, half it and press each piece into a well-oiled baking tray or that brilliant silicon bako-glide stuff. Shape them roughly like a nan. Press your thumb into the dough at irregular intervals to create lots of dimples over the entire surface. Cover the breads with a damp tea towel and allow to prove for 20-30 minutes. Turn the oven to its highest setting.
5. Squeeze the cooled roasted garlic into the bowl of a food processor or mortar and pestle. Add the roughly chopped herbs and pulse. Add a small drizzle of olive oil through the feeder tube until the ingredients form a loose paste. Drizzle this over both breads.
6. Put the dough quickly into the oven. The vital point here is that you need to retain the high temperature to keep the dough springy and light. We experimented with some dough and found that if you can transfer the dough onto a heated steel baking sheet then the dough will cook more evenly and you will get less of a doughy texture. Some people say spray water into the oven at various point for crustier bread but I haven’t tried this yet. You could always pimp up your oven like Jeffrey Steingarten did. But that would run the risk of burning down your house. Cook for 25-30 minutes until the garlic sauce is golden brown and bubbling like Rotarua. Remove the breads from the oven, sprinkle over some decent sea salt, allow to cool slightly and serve.