Soda Bread Focaccia with Tomato & Winter Herbs

Recipe Serves: 1 loaf

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil

500g plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

400ml buttermilk

2 small sprigs of rosemary, about 1 teaspoon finely chopped

20 sage leaves (10 chopped and 10 reserved for the top)
4 small thyme sprigs (leaves picked off, half for the dough and half reserved for the top)

160g Mrs Bridges Sun Dried Tomato & Balsamic Chutney

8 cherry tomatoes, halved vertically through the stalk

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Follow The Recipe

Pre heat the oven to 200°C Fan. Line a deep 30x20cm baking tray with baking paper and drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil.

Sieve the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl add the salt and whisk to combine everything together. Stir in the chopped rosemary, sage and half the thyme leaves. Make a well in the centre and pour in most of the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon quickly mix the wet and dry ingredients together until you have a firm but slightly sticky dough, if it is too dry add the remaining buttermilk.

Put the dough into the prepared baking tray. With clean hands gently press the dough out until it completely covers the baking tray in an even layer. Working quickly use a spoon to make 16 indents in the dough and then fill each of the indents with a teaspoon of Mrs Bridges Sun Dried Tomato & Balsamic Chutney and then add a halved cherry tomato on top, pressing the tomato into the dough. It doesn’t matter is some of the chutney squeezes out round the edges of the tomato. Gently press the remaining sage leaves and the reserved thyme leaves into the top of the dough.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the top of the bread and use your finders or a pastry brush to spread it over the whole top of the bread. Put the loaf in the oven immediately.

Bake for 15 minutes at 200°C and then turn down to 180°C and bake for another 25 minutes until golden. This bread is best served on the day it is baked

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