A delicious (and fun-colored!) free-form loaf of bread made with raw beets.
I had a real surprise the first time I made this beetroot bread. I grated raw beetroot into the flour, added yeast, salt, and water as usual and started kneading. The dough turned a pronounced deep pink color, and I thought that it would probably change on baking to an uninspiring brown. How wrong was I! I was delighted to see when I cut the loaf for the first time that the grated beets had resulted in an amazing striped color scheme.
It works best when made with 100% white flour – this really emphasizes the contrast in colors between the pieces of beetroot and dough. The dough does turn a rather remarkable pink before being baked. Don’t stress, though; the final result will be a spotty masterpiece.
Prep time - 2 hrs 55 mins
Total time - 2 hrs 55 mins
Servings - 1
Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups raw beet puree (about 2 1/2 peeled medium beets)
3 1/2 all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Instructions
In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water. Let rest 5 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fixed with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add in yeast mixture, beet puree and olive oil. Mix until just combined.
Knead, by hand or in a stand mixer fixed with the dough hook, about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Remove risen dough from bowl and shape into a round ball. Place dough on a baking stone or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Allow bread to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing or serving.
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