artifactorum

 

 

The original sustenance. Even so that 2000 years ago, a roman in Pompeii decided to engrave the now ancient walls with "on April 19th, I made bread" (just google 'graffiti of Pompeii', great stuff).  Learning how to make and maintain a sourdough starter can feel overwhelming at first, but you've got to remember that if ancient Romans could do it by eye, so can you, especially with the tools of the internet and a digital scale at your disposal! 

 

A sourdough starter is cheap to make and difficult to kill. You can also just buy an already cultivated starter at your local bakery, which I've done after neglecting mine beyond the point of no return. 

 

The sourdough starter is a bunch of bacteria that you regularly feed with a tablespoon of flour and tablespoon of water and keep in the fridge. When it's time to bake bread you use a little piece of it as yeast in your dough. My breads are still not as neat and pretty, I've only just now learned how to score little flower petals on them. But it is delicious either way. I use a simple no-knead recipe with minimal steps and tools.

 

 When the bread is nice and fresh like this, you can make it a whole meal. Sometimes, we plate up a buffé of spreads; hummus, ajvar, olive tapenade, some jam, some cheese, some greens, some tomato and cucumber slices - and have a simple feast. 

 

I obviously still haven't gotten old enough to spend money on pretty china.  But that's beside the point. I wanted a simple soup recipe to break my fast with and I found this by MiddleEats. It was so good that I made it four times in the sphere of 19 days and it was easy to make in a pinch when you're low energy, hungry guests are coming over and you want to serve a wholesome meal with minimal effort. It's filling, has a warm spice and the toasted pitta gives it great consistency.  The recipe can be found on the link with video instructions or also down below: 

Toasted pitta:

4 Pitta breads (or stale bread)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/8 Tsp Black pepper

Lentil Soup:

250g red lentils
150g Carrots
1 Medium Onion
1 Tomato
4 cloves of garlic
2.5 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper

Tasha (garlic and vinegar sauce): 

1-2 Tbsp butter or oil
4 Cloves Garlic
1/3 Cup White Vinegar
2 Tbsp Butter

Pitta: Cut the pitta into small pieces, and add olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix and spread evenly on an oven tray. Bake at 160° for 15 minutes until crispy. 

Lentil soup: Wash the lentils. Roughly chop the vegetables, then add everything to a pot with 1,25L vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, then remove the tomatoes and peel their skin. Turn the heat to medium and cover with a lid. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the carrots are cooked through, then blend until smooth. Add the salt, pepper, and spices, and simmer until it reaches a slightly thick texture

Tasha: Melt the butter, then add garlic and fry for 30 seconds.  Add the vinegar and bring to a boil then pour into the soup.

Finally, place the pitta in a bowl, ladle the soup over it, and pour some tasha on top. Serve immediately. As you can see we enjoyed some babybells along with it and had blueberry galettes for dessert, but that's a recipe for another time.