Ingredients
Bread dough
Onion rolls
Herb bread
Method
Bread dough
1.Dissolve the sugar in the warm water and sprinkle the dried yeast on top. Set aside for 10 minutes to soften and become frothy.
2.Put the flours and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
3.Rub in the lard or butter using your fingertips and make a well in the centre.
4.Pour the yeast mixture into the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended, adding a little more water if the mixture seems too dry. Knead on a floured board until you have a smooth and springy dough (or use the dough hook in an electric stand mixer).
5.Put the dough into an oiled bowl then turn dough over so that all surfaces are lightly oiled.
6.Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave on the bench overnight to rise.
Onion rolls
7.Preheat the oven to 220°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
8.Cook onion gently in the butter with a pinch of salt. Use a heavy-based frying pan and cover it for the first 10 minutes, then remove cover and stir occasionally for 10 minutes. Don’t let them brown.
9.Put the cooked onion onto paper towels to cool and drain.
10.Take half of the risen dough and spread out on a floured board with your fingers. Keeping aside about 2 tablespoons of the onion for the topping, spread the rest over the dough and knead it in. The onion will be oily and reluctant at first, but persevere and after a minute or two the butter will be absorbed and the onion distributed throughout.
11.Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece between floured hands to make a cylinder about 20cm long, form it into a loose knot and place on the tray.
12.When all the rolls are formed, cover the tray with a cloth and leave to prove for about 1 hour.
13.Before baking, distribute the reserved onion over the tops of the rolls and bake them for about 15-20 minutes until golden-brown and with attractive dark shreds of onion on top. Cool on a rack and serve at room temperature.
Herb bread
14.Butter a 16cm x 9.5cm (at the base) loaf tin. Crush the garlic clove with a pinch of salt, and then mash the garlic and herbs into the butter.
15.Take the other half of the risen dough and pat it out on a floured board to make a rectangle about 1cm thick. The shorter side of the rectangle should be about 11cm long.
16.Leaving a 2cm margin all around the edges, spread the softened herb butter evenly over the dough. Roll it up into a cylinder from the short side, tuck in the ends and place the dough in the prepared tin with the join underneath.
17.Cover with a cloth and leave for about 1 hour in a warm place until the dough has almost reached the top of the tin.
18.Bake, with onion rolls, at 220°C for about 30 minutes until golden-brown. If they won’t all fit on the same shelf, put rolls on the upper rack, then move the loaf up when you take out the rolls.
19.Turn onto a rack to cool and slice when it reaches room temperature.
If you want to make the bread more quickly, use 3 tsp yeast. The dough will double in size if left in a warm place for 1-2 hours. However, the texture and flavour of the bread will not be as good as you achieve with a slow, overnight rise.
Note
