Here’s a really easy and delicious bread you can make as an appetizer or to pair up with a meal. It uses eggs and baking powder for leavening, so no need to wait for it to rise. I brought a loaf to a party where we slathered our slices with a bit of butter, and the whole loaf went really quickly. With picnic season coming up I can see myself making this one a few times to eat al fresco.
I substituted spinach for the arugula, which was delicious, but I imagine the arugula would give it even more flavour. She uses self-raising flour, but I changed the recipe a little so I could use all-purpose flour. This bread is light enough that you could use some whole wheat flour.
This recipe is from Yvette Van Boven’s book Home Made Summer.
What you need:
- 100 grams washed and dried arugula or spinach
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 & 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons sour cream (I used 2% yogurt)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
What you do:
- Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a 5-by-9 loaf pan with butter.
- Chop the arugula and set it aside.
- In a bowl whisk the baking powder, salt and pepper into the flour, then add the eggs, sour cream or yogurt, olive oil and mustard. Mix on high for about a minute – this makes a very thick batter, but don’t worry, it will make a nice light loaf.
- Fold in the arugula and pine nuts, then pour the batter into the pan and press it into the corners.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaf cool for about 5 minutes, then remove it from the pan.
- Serve it either hot or at room temperature with a bit of butter.