Mediterranean Sun Dried Tomato Bread

1 1/2 C soymilk
2 T sugar
4 T olive oil
2 t active dry yeast
2 T raw flax seed powder
1 t salt
1 C all purpose flour
3-4 C whole wheat flour

sun dried tomatoes (soaked in warm water and re-hydrated)
chilli powder
herbs - oregano, rosemary etc...

Heat the soymilk until lukewarm (test the temperature with your knuckle). Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar, oil and yeast. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve. It should be all bubbly and frothy by the end of this time.

Add the salt and flax seed powder and beat a little. Slowly whisk in the 1 C all purpose flour and 2 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour a little at a time while continuing to beat it as much as possible. Once the dough gets too thick to beat, add just a little more flour and mix with your palms to obtain a rough dough.

Form this dough into a ball and transfer it onto a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top). Knead well for about 10 mins at least (add a little more whole wheat flour while kneading if the dough is sticky but make sure it doesn't get too dry) until it reaches a smooth, elastic consistency.

An effective way to knead is to press the dough away from you with the base of your palms, then fold the dough over towards you and then it press again.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and swirl it around until it's coated with the oil. Cover with a clean plastic bag and let it sit in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead for a few seconds. Divide it into two balls. Roll the balls out into large rectangles about 1 centimeter (a little less than 1/2 inch) thick and place them flat. Lightly coat these rectangles with a very thin layer of olive oil and spread the sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle the chilli powder and herbs over them (you can add sliced olives too but I didn't have any when I made the bread so they're not in there). Gently roll up the sheets and form them into loaves. Place them in loaf pans, cover again with the plastic bags and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours to double in volume.

I actually made one bread with this rolling up method and the other with bits of the sun dried tomatoes and herbs and spices kneaded into the loaf. Both were nice but I personally preferred the taste of the rolled up style bread better.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Bake the loaves for 50 minutes.

A great way to get a nicely browned, crusty top is to spray the bread with water every 15 minutes or so while it is baking.

Cool for some time in the loaf pans. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Tastes great with Hummus!