chorizo and thyme fougasse bread.

when i first saw lorraine pascale effortlessly make this bread on her baking programme, i knew i definitely wanted to try it when I had a proper mixer and dough hook of my own. there’s nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread; and the combination smokey chorizo and heavenly thyme that infused my kitchen definitely added to this.  

i seem to have acquired quite a few little kitchen gadgets and gizmos lately – my lovely granny bought me a pasta machine last christmas, my mum got me a huge mussel pot from france, i’ve raided kitchenware shops for ravioli presses, piping tips and tartlet tins and i searched high and low for a bamboo steamer to make my own dim sum.

i’ve always wanted to try out a proper classic mixer to help improve my basic culinary skills - and what better than the original kenwood chef? this comes with a k beater, balloon whisk and the much anticipated dough hook! argos sell a brill range of kenwood chefs and the like; including the gorgeous retro kmix, the sleek and sophisticated premier mixers and the timeless classic chef. i can’t believe they first launched in 1947!

so for the recipe, originally found on the bbc recipe site, you will need:

shopping list

♥ 500g strong white bread flour

♥ 2 tsp salt

♥ 1 sachet fast-action dried yeast

♥ 250ml cold water

♥ a handful of thyme leaves

♥ 50g sliced chorizo, chopped

♥ 1 tbsp sunflower oil

♥ 3 tbsp milk

begin by mixing the flour, salt and yeast together. then, pour in the water to the middle of the bowl and lightly stir.

this process would be more crucial if you were hand kneading but i was ready with my new friend kenwood to do the hard part. just make sure the dough isn’t too sticky as this can be rectified later with water if too dry. set the mixer with attached dough hook to go – and time for 5 minutes.

the dough should now have formed a nice ball which hangs from the kenwood hook. add in the thyme leaves to the middle of the dough ball and turn the mixer back on for a couple more minutes.

stuff half the chorizo into the middle of the bread dough and fold it all in. 

then stretch to a leaf shape on a flour dusted chopping board. make diagonal marks in the bread with a knife and scatter on the remaining chorizo. cover with oiled cling film and place in a warm place to rise for an hour. 

for me, i placed mine on a plate in the top grill and then preheated my main oven to around 140 degrees so the warmth would spread upwards. later for the actual baking you will need it at 200 degrees.

once risen, remove the cling and brush with milk. a great tip from lorraine pascale was to spray some water in your oven to make the bread rise! 

bake for 30-35 minutes on a flour dusted baking tray. i served mine with slow roasted tomato soup – yum! 

i also tried out a cheese and thyme bread a few nights later - switching out the chorizo for mature cheddar :) made for the perfect breakfast on saturday morning with a slab of real butter and cup of tea.

if you have any lovely bread recipes - do let me know! i am really enjoying baking my own lately x

*note: brought to you in association with argos - all opinions are completely my own.