Andrew Whitley’s ‘Bread Matters’ has some incredibly simple ideas for your daily loaf, if you’re inclined to bake your own. I’ve used that book so much that it’s quite battered now, stained with what-nots, greasy in places so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get me a new copy for Christmas.
One of those simple recipes is the two day bread. You make the sponge with very little yeast and let it stand for up to 48 hours – it will undoubtedly pick up some wild yeast from the air and so turn in part a sourdough. This long proving gives bread better flavour, there’s no question about it. Just think and compare supermarket bread which they make in, like, five minutes including the baking.
The dough can be left well alone, just shaped into a loaf without any additions but it’s also very well suited to become a flavoured loaf.
I have simplified the instructions a little here, using sun-dried tomato paste instead of making my own mix and I added olives instead of Andrew's suggestion of onions. The possibilities are endless: sunflower seeds soaked in tamari soya sauce are one idea, I can well imagine making a topping of onions, mushrooms or even cheese or bacon. It’s just such decent bread – with or without fancy toppings.