Courgette, sultana and lemon bread. 57p – I’m getting extravagant… Works out just over 14p per portion though, so not bad for breakfast!
I had to find a use for some sad looking courgettes I bought a week ago, at £1.80 for a kilogram, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The next few days will be spent making ‘things’ out of courgettes, I’ll be damned before I’ll waste nearly two quid… Thought I’d start with a bread, a good favourite staple ‘quick I have a vegetable going a bit off and I don’t know what to do with it’, and I’ll probably do a pasta, a ratatouille, and some fritter type things as well. And cake. There’s always room for cake with veg in.
Ingredients:
100g courgette, 18p (£1.80/1kg, Sainsburys Basics)
250g plain flour, 11p (65p/1.5kg Sainsburys Basics)
7g dried yeast, 11p (95p for 8, Sainsburys)
25ml lemon juice, 6p (60p/250ml, Sainsburys)
50g sultanas, 11p (£1.05/500g, Sainsburys Basics)
How to:
1. Grate the courgette finely into a large mixing bowl. Don’t worry about draining etc, the additional liquid will flavour the bread and add moisture. When adding water to the recipe anyway, it doesn’t make sense to fanny about taking liquid out to put it back in again, and I like the simple solutions…
2. Add the flour and yeast to the courgette, and sultanas. Combine with a wooden spoon, making sure the courgette doesn’t all just clump together.
3. Measure 25ml of lemon juice, and add boiling water to make up to 150ml of liquid (less than usual because of the wetness of the courgettes).
4. Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture, and pour most of the liquid in. Mix in to form a sticky dough, adding the rest of the liquid if required.
5. Tip out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about ten minutes. (I’ve started preparing my bread last thing at night to take the frustrations of the day out on, which gives the double bonus of leaving it overnight to rise, for extra light and fluffy bread…)
6. Leave to rise for half an hour, with a tea towel over the top to keep the heat from the boiling water in.
7. When your half hour has passed, knock the air out of it, and pop into a lightly oiled or silicone 1lb loaf tin. Cover in clingfilm and leave to rise for at least another half an hour, or if you’re like me, overnight.
8. Score the top lightly. Cook for half an hour at 180C; it should be golden and crispy on top, lightweight and sound hollow on the bottom when tapped. Leave to cool, slice, and devour.
This is delicious toasted with butter (or whatever spread you have), also delicious with marmalade, or eaten warm by the handful….
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe