A spot of baking. It is rare that a week goes by without a bit of baking going on in my kitchen. A pie. A loaf. A cake, perhaps. What it is will depend on how I am feeling. Baking has a therapeutic quality to it – especially cake making, which I find the most calming type of cooking; or bread making, which can, if necessary, become a form of anger management.
I associate this time of year with the sweeter side of baking. If ever Imake brioche – a bit of aperformance for what is basically aposh bun – then it will be in the run up to Easter. The same goes for Danish pastries or croissants, which I tend to leave to the experts for most of the year. This week I had a go at a sweet focaccia, kneading sliced apples and pecan nuts into the dough. The second proving in the warm lent a slightly cider-like note to the proceedings.
If ever there was time to eat a piece of baking straight from the oven this is it: all the warm, yeasty bonhomie of homemade bread plus the sweet note of baked apple and slightly charred nuts made this as much a cake as a loaf. Truth told, we tore it apart within five minutes of it being out of the oven, the maple-syrup dressing trickling through our fingers as we ate.
Focaccia doesn't need hard kneading – in fact it slightly resents rough handling. And it will forgive alittle impatience, too. If ever anyone asks me where they should start with home baking, I always lead them down the focaccia path. So rarely does it fail, and so versatile is it, that it is a great place to start. Rosemary, garlic and sparkling flakes of sea salt is one route; blackberries, blueberries or apples another.
On a savoury note, I made a vast vegetable pie this week, thick with green vegetables and the salty tang of feta cheese. It was a main dish, but it also turned up, in thick wodges, in someone's lunch box the next day. The idea came from the spinach and feta parcels that used to keep me going while on holiday in Greece when I was a student and which I have always felt could do with arethink. This time, as well as the usual spinach, I added broad beans (peas were another thought), to introduce a new layer of both flavour and texture. Instead of a tiny parcel, the vegetables and sheep's cheese ended up as a big family pie.
You could easily take the idea on with other fillings – chard and mushroom, spinach and blue cheese, cabbage and bacon – or you could introduce a sauce of some kind, such as feta, dill and yogurt. In any form, you will end up with an extraordinary piece of baking. Simple, handmade and straight from your own oven.
Broad bean, feta and spinach pie
Serves 4-6
broad beans 250g, shelled weight
spinach 500g
feta 400g
filo pastry 6 sheets, about 270g
melted butter for brushing
sesame seeds 1 tsp
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Put a saucepan of water on to boil. Tip in the broad beans and leave to cook for 7-10 minutes until tender. Drain then squeeze the beans out of their grey skins and set aside. If you quickly cool them in a colander under a cold tap they will retain their lovely bright colour.
Wash the spinach very thoroughly to remove every little bit of sand and grit. While the leaves are still holding some of their water, put them into a large, deep pan over a low to moderate heat, without any further liquid, cover with a tight lid and cook for a few minutes, turning occasionally with kitchen tongs, until they are wilted and dark emerald green. Drain in a colander or sieve, then cool under running cold water.
Squeeze the spinach almost dry with your hands. There is no more effective way to do is. Leave some moisture in there, but it should not be soggy. Set aside in abowl then add the broad beans, and season with black pepper and a little salt. Crumble the feta into the spinach and fold together.
Place a sheet of filo pastry on a baking sheet, then brush it with butter. Place asecond sheet on top, and brush with butter then continue until all six sheets are used. Brush the top sheet with butter, then place the broad-bean-and-feta filling in apile on one half of the pastry, shaping it into arough rectangle. Fold the edges over, book-style, and press loosely to seal. Brush with butter, cut a small slit or two in the top, then scatter lightly with sesame seeds. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Apple and maple syrup focaccia
Serves 6 to 8
strong white bread flour 450g
easy bake yeast 1 sachet (7g or 2 tsp)
sea salt 1 tsp
olive oil 1 tbsp
caster sugar 1 tbsp
warm water 350ml
For the topping:
apples 3, large and sweet, such as Cox
shelled pecans 150g
maple syrup 150ml
Put the flour and yeast in a large bowl, add the sea salt, finely crushed, then the olive oil, sugar and warm water. Mix thoroughly, then turn the dough out on to a well-floured board. Knead the dough lightly for five minutes or so. Nothing good will come from too heavy a knead.
As soon as the dough feels elastic then put it into a lightly floured bowl, cover with acloth or clingfilm, then put it in awarm place to rise. Once it has doubled in size – about an hour or so – gently press it down with your fist, knocking some of the air out.
Chop and core the apples, peeling them if you wish, then knead them into the dough, with the pecans, leaving a few for the top. Put the dough into a shallow 28cm tin. Set the oven at 220C/gas mark 7.
Cover the dough once more and return it to a warm place to rise further. Once it has expanded to almost twice its size again, trickle a little olive oil over it (you won't need much).
Put the loaf in the hot oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until it is well-risen, golden brown and crisp on top. It should feel slightly springy when pressed.
Spoon maple syrup over the top and let it soak in. Leave the bread to cool a little before tearing apart with your hands.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or visit guardian.co.uk/profile/nigelslater for all his recipes in one place
