Guest recipes with Tonia Buxton

Time for tea

 

Pittakia

This way of cooking was originally developed by the Greek settlers, who in the fifth century BC founded Neapolis. They adapted a pre-existing baking tradition to develop this new ‘pita’, which through experimentation, luck and linguistic distortion, became pizza. It ALL started with the Greeks!

 

450g white or brown bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

7g sachet fast-acting dried yeast

½ tsp caster sugar

280ml lukewarm water

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for coating

For the topping

250ml crème fraîche

2 medium red onions, finely sliced

150–200g combined weight of the following:

crumbled feta/pitted/Kalamata olives/roasted artichokes/sundried tomatoes, sliced/oregano/chestnut mushrooms/hiromeri/capers/anchovies

freshly ground black pepper

 

Mix the flour, herbs, salt, yeast and sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in the water and oil and mix together to form a soft (but not sticky) dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead well for 10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl and coat with a little oil. Cover with cling film and leave at room temperature until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 230C. Prepare the topping of your choice. Knock back the risen dough, then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 2 equal portions. Roll one portion out into a very thin rectangle, about the same size as your baking tray. Don’t worry if the dough stretches or overlaps the edges, as they can be folded in at a later stage. Repeat with the second piece of dough on the second baking tray.

Spread one sheet of dough with half the crème fraîche, then sprinkle on half the onion slices and half your toppings. Season with black pepper to taste. Fold over the edges to make a narrow border of about 1cm.

Repeat with the second sheet of dough. Bake for 12–15 minutes until golden and crisp. Eat immediately.

 

Cherry and Ginger Banana Loaf

This is the perfect tea-time cake – the dried cherries add that little bit of tartness for an afternoon pick-me-up

 

140g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

270g plain wholemeal rye flour, plus extra for dusting

1 Earl Grey tea bag

250ml boiling water

100g dried cherries

100g light brown soft sugar

3 ripe bananas, mashed plus 1 to decorate

2 medium eggs

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

5 cardamom seeds, shelled and crushed

zest and juice of 1 orange

 

Preheat the oven to 160C. Lightly grease a 900g loaf tin, then line the base with baking paper and lightly dust the sides with a little flour.

Place the tea bag in a mug with the boiling water, add the cherries and allow to soak in the tea for 10 minutes.

Beat the sugar and eggs together with a fork. Add the mashed bananas and mix together until it looks like cake batter.

Then add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom seeds and mix thoroughly to combine.

Pour in the melted butter and beat until it is mixed in. Drain the cherries and add them to the mixture, together with the orange juice and zest.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.

Cut the last banana into slices lengthways and lay on the cake.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes until firm and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the loaf from the tin and allow it to cool on a wire rack before serving.

 

Tonia Buxton has written four cookbooks and is a well-known TV celebrity and chef. For more information visit toniabuxton.co.uk