Our First Semolina Bread Recipe

How to make it

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• Making semolina bread is pretty much like making regular bread. We mixed the yeast and the water and left it covered for few minutes, until it began to bubble. We then added the semolina flour and salt and mixed them in. Next, we gradually added the plain flour, little by little, mixing it in as we added it.
• We sprinkled some flour on a wooden surface and began kneading and punching our dough. We must have done it for more than 30 minutes, but 10-15 should be more than enough. Surprisingly, we did not find that working with semolina (this time) was more difficult than working with regular white or wholemeal flours. By the time we finished kneading it, the dough was quite elastic, very smooth and whiter than we were expecting.
• We left the dough to rise for about 2 and a half hours, in a covered bowl, in a warmish environment.
• Once it doubled in size, we preheated the oven to 180-200C and sprinkled some more semolina on the baking tray. We punched the dough back and shaped it into a loaf, made some diagonal cuts in it, brushed it with a bit of egg, sprinkled lots of sesame seeds and put it in the oven. We baked it until it became golden brown. Because we’ve been making our own bread for quite a while, we can (more or less) tell when it is done, but a ‘toothpick test’ never hurts – just make sure you use a long toothpick that can reach the bottom of the bread. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. There is also the tap-the-bottom-and-if-it-sounds-hollow-it’s-ready method.
• Now, while it cools, you can read a few facts about semolina flour. Though it’s mostly used for pasta, it is equally yum in breads. It is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. Among others, it is high in protein, has a bit of fiber and is a fairly good source of potassium, magnesium and calcium, with some iron and zinc.
• This bread has a particularly delicious taste which really does not resemble any other bread we’ve made! As it was our first semolina bread try, we decided to do it ‘the traditional’ way, with the egg wash. Next time we will skip the egg and add the sesame seeds in the bread. Maybe even add some flax seeds.
• More of our recipes here http://talesofthekitchen.wordpress.com/