Spelt bread rolls roman style
Spelt breads are very easy to digest and have a lovely crumpet-like texture. Wholemeal spelt flour is also extremely easy to work with and is really enjoying a resurgence in popularity, partly because it can be tolerated by many people with wheat sensitivities.
Follow this roman style recipe to make your own rolls which are delicious fresh from the oven, or defrosted from your freezer. I now make these almost every week.
Ingredients (Makes about 8x 120g rolls):
- 500g wholemeal spelt flour
- 1x tsp quick yeast
- 1x tbsp runny honey
- 1x tbsp olive oil (or rapeseed oil)
- ½ tsp salt
- 400ml warm water
Add your own twist by adding 1x tsp cinnamon and 50g dried raisins, chopped. Finely chopped fig is lovely too.
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 200 C (for fan oven) or 180 C / Gas mark 6.
- In a large bowl, mix the wholemeal spelt flour, quick yeast and salt.
- Dissolve the honey in the warm water and roughly mix it into the flour (with yeast & salt already added)
- While your dough is still craggy, add the olive oil and mix well – using your hands.
- Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. (May be very sticky so wet hands with warm water first. A good way to work such dough is to scoop up using a dough cutter and slap the dough onto your worktop. Repeat for 2-3 minutes and dough will have some elasticity.)
- Put the dough back into the bowl or into a bread tin, cover and leave in a warm place for 25-30 mins. (Cling film with a little oil applied works well. Also a microwave can work as a proofing drawer.)
Dough should rise over this time. Don’t rush it – if you need to leave a further 10-15 mins that’s fine.
- Now portion your dough into rolls of roughly 100g – 125g rolls – gently shaping in your hands.
- Place the rolls on a lightly oiled baking tray.
- Bake in your oven for 20-30 mins – you’ll know they’re ready when you have a lightly crispy crust and that hollow sound when you tap the base of your rolls.
- Serve with some homemade hummus or beets hummus!
Benefits:
Spelt flour is an excellent alternative for people with wheat tolerance issues. Spelt is a whole food yet it makes a very light and highly nutritious roll or loaf. Due to the protein in spelt flour, you can enjoy a soft textured loaf that barely sheds crumbs when sliced.
Due to spelt’s high water solubility, and the nature of this traditional recipe, the grain’s vital substances can be absorbed quickly into the body with minimum digestive work. This allows the nutrients to be absorbed very effectively.
High in fibre, vitamins, protein and complex carbohydrates it really is very good for you indeed. Plus it tastes great!
Enjoy with some homemade hummus, beets hummus, or soup!
Jeff