In collaboration with Brixton Windmill and using their organic wholemeal flour
I must say I am a cheese lover. On top of being a coffee lover. Well, that’s kind of the Italian stereotype too, I was told. Cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, burrata, gorgonzola…and we could continue for days) and coffee (espresso of course). Then apparently there are just a few other things, but not loving one of these two makes you a bit of an alien on the ground in Italy.
Anyway, talking about coffee and cheese was just an excuse in this case, but I needed it to introduce to you my latest recipe. Ta-dah. Which has nothing to do with coffee, but a lot with cheese. But also, it is usually eaten before coffee, with cheese, right before the end of the meal in Italy, so it makes sense to mention coffee I guess.
Back to them though. Wholewheat oatcakes. The perfect accompaniment to cheeses right before coffee. Ah, what a nice meal.
I must say (again) that oatcakes are not a thing in Italy, as cheeses are usually eaten either on their own, or with crackers of all sorts, or for those super hungry, with bread. But the thing is, they are a great accompaniment to cheese, and the creaminess of the oats makes them kind of addictive.
So why not to add an extra special touch to your cheese boards this Christmas and wow everyone showing off your own homemade oatcakes? They are super easy, and they will be a massive success. Give it a go and have fun pairing the flavours to your favourite cheese.
Every batch of dough makes 12 – 14 oatcakes
Ingredients
BASIC DOUGH
- 75g Rolled oats
- 50g wholewheat flour (I used Brixton Windmill)
- 35g chilled unsalted butter, diced
- 2g sea salt
- 60ml boiling water
HERBS & FLAVOURING (per batch of basic dough)
- 2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
- 10g unsalted butter
Or
- 3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
Or
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
Method
TO MAKE THE BASIC DOUGH
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour and salt and stir. Add your chosen flavours/herbs (see below for details). Add the butter and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add the water and mix with a wooden spoon until it starts coming together. Knead a few times with your hands till you get a smooth dough (careful if it’s too warm).
- Roll the dough out very thinly (2 or 3 mm max) onto a lightly floured surface, and cut out the cakes with a 6cm circular cutter.
- Lay evenly onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake for 15 minutes. Flip over and bake for further 5 minutes, until nicely golden and dry. Lay onto a wire rack to cool completely and enjoy with your favourite cheese. If not eaten on the same day, refresh in the hot oven for a couple of minutes to crisp before serving.
TO ADD THE FLAVOURING
- BUTTER AND SAGE: add the chopped sage to the flour and oats mix and rub the extra butter together with the rest to achieve a crumbly texture. Follow with the remaining steps.
- LEMON AND THYME: add the chopped thyme and lemon zest to the flour and oats mixture. Follow with the remaining steps.
- TOMATO AND BASIL: add the chopped basil to the flour and oats mixture. Continue by rubbing the butter into the mixture. Dissolve the tomato puree into the boiling water before adding it and then continue with the next steps.