A lttle taste of spring! Fougasse, a classic French bread, here lovingly prepared for us by food blogger Lena Fuchs / meinleckeresleben.com, using plenty of fresh herbs, olives and walnuts. It not only looks fantastic, it tastes delicious too. It's nice and fluffy, perfect for a light lunch with fresh pea and mint soup.
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Ingredients - Fougasse (2 loafs)
- 30 g fresh yeast
- 300 ml llukewarm water
- 100 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp honey or sugar
- 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 500-550 g light spelt flour
- 1 tsp Fleur de Sel
- 50 g Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
- A handful of walnuts, coarsely chopped
- Olive oil for brushing
- Various wild herbs for topping
- Some Fleur de Sel to sprinkle on the top
Ingredients - Pea and Mint soup
(4 portions)
- ½ leek
- 1 floury potato
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil for sautéing
- 500 g frozen peas
- 800 ml vegetable stock
- 150 ml cream or crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 5 sprigs of fresh mint
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
Method - Fougasse
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the yeast with the water, honey, and olive oil.
- Finely chop the herbs and add to the yeast mixture.
- Add the flour, coarsely chopped nuts, olives and a tsp of Fleur de Sel salt, and knead into a smooth, supple dough (for best results, use a processor).
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for approx. 45 minutes.
- Sprinkle your work surface lightly with flour, cut the dough in half and roll out each piece into an oval flatbread of approx. 2 cm thick. Place the flatbreads on a baking tray.
- Make diagonal cuts into each flatbread and pull the dough slightly apart (leaf pattern).
- Let the loaves rise for a further 15-20 minutes.
- Brush each flatbread with a little olive oil, top with a mix of wild herbs and finish the topping off with a small sprinkling of Fleur de Sel salt.
Method - Pea and Mint Soup
- Thoroughly was the leek and cut into fine rings.
- Peel the potato and chop into small cubes.
- Finely chop the garlic and sauté with the leek in 2 tbsp of olive oil.
- Add the peas and diced potatoes.
- Pour in vegetable stock and simmer gently for 10–12 minutes..
- Finely chop the mint and add to the soup with the cream, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.
- Put the soup in a blender and puree until creamy; adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve with mint leaves and a little cream on top, if desired.
Tips from Lena Fuchs:
Vegan-Tip!
Instead of cream, use oat milk.
Spring-Tip!
In spring, I like to add a few wild herbs such as nettle leaves, goutweed or dandelion leaves to the soup at the end of the cooking before I puree the soup.