Easy no-knead bread and gazpacho

Homemade bread made simple! Pair it with this delicious gazpacho for a refreshing lunch.

Ingredients

For the no-knead bread (12 servings)

• 4 cups strong white bread flour
• 2 cups wholemeal flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 sachet instant yeast (7 g)
• 100 g pumpkin seeds
• 25 g chia seeds
• 3 cups tepid water

For the gazpacho (4 servings)

• 10 vine tomatoes
• 2 red peppers
• 1 cucumber
• 1 small red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 40 ml red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Chilli, if you like it spicy
• Black pepper, to taste
• 10 fresh basil leaves

Method

For the bread

Day 1

1. Mix the dry bread ingredients thoroughly and add the water to the mix, stirring it in with your hand. You do not need to knead this like a conventional bread dough; simply combine everything so it’s all mixed and there are no lumps of flour left.
2. Once it is mixed, transfer the mix to a large bowl or a large container with a lid. Close the lid and set aside until the following day.

Day 2

1. Preheat your oven to 250 °C and place a Dutch oven (cast-iron pot with a lid) inside. Dust a clean surface in your kitchen with flour and put the dough onto the flour. Gently bring in the side of the dough into the centre, adding more flour underneath if needed. You want to form a ball that will give the bread its final shape. Dust the top of the bread with a light layer of flour and leave to rest while the oven reaches the desired temperature.
2. When the oven is heated and the Dutch oven is hot, remove it from the oven, take off the lid and place the bread dough into the Dutch oven. Put the lid back on and place straight into the oven. It will take about 30 minutes to cook, so don’t be tempted to take a peek or you will lose all of the heat and moisture from the pan that makes the bread cook so well. After 30 minutes, remove the Dutch oven and take off the lid. The bread will have a lovely dark crust to it. Remove the bread and tap the bottom of the loaf: if it sounds hollow, then the bread is cooked. If it doesn’t, place the bread straight onto a shelf in the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes.

For the gazpacho

1. Dice all of the vegetables and put together into a blender or a large bowl or pot if using a handheld blender. Add the red wine vinegar and olive oil and blend down. It might seem like it won’t blend at first, but once the water starts to be extracted from the vegetables it will soon blend to a smooth puree.
2. Once everything has blended down, check and adjust the seasoning, adding black pepper and extra red wine vinegar to taste. Transfer into a container, place in the fridge and leave overnight for the flavours to marry.

To serve

Chill the bowls you want to use for the gazpacho in the fridge prior to being used. When ready to serve, divide the gazpacho evenly between the bowls and garnish with the basil leaves. You can serve the bread as it is or try toasting it or making large croutons.