Rustic Spelt Pesto Bread

Gorgeous still warm from the oven and served with a big salad or an antipasti platter for a starter or lunch...food heaven!
It is best made with home-made or fresh from the supermarket chiller pesto but it is also delicious with pesto from a jar.

Ingredients

500g White Spelt Flour (I use Doves Farm Organic)

1 Tspn Salt

310ml Warm Water 

1 Tspn Sugar

1 Sachet (7g) Fast Action Yeast

Approx. 4 Tbsp Fresh Pesto

• Tip the flour into a large bowl and stir in the salt.
• In a measuring jug, measure the water then add the sugar and the yeast, give it a stir.
• Pour all the water mixture into the flour and stir with a fork until it comes together in a dough.
• Tip the dough out onto the surface and start to stretch and knead it.  It will be very stretchy and a bit sticky but keep stretching and folding repeatedly for about 10 minutes.  By now the dough will be very smooth and elastic but still a bit sticky.
• Sprinkle some flour into the bowl and put the dough back in.  Cover with cling film and leave to rise for about an hour until it's doubled in size.
• After this time, take the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead it to knock out the air bubbles and incorporate any flour that has stuck from the bowl.  Then stretch and flatten out the dough with your fists until you have a large oval.
• Spoon the pesto onto the flattened dough and (this is the messy bit!) fold the dough over and around the pesto then knead and squidge the dough until the pesto is fully incorporated.  Shape it into an oval then put it onto an oiled baking tray.
• Leave this for another hour to rise again and preheat the oven to 210C (fan).
• When risen, brush with water (this helps to achieve a crunchy crust) and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden brown and crusty.