SprigGV8A4720
VEGETARIAN,  BAKING,  BREADS,  EGGLESS,  SAVOURY,  VEGAN

Genoa Fougasse with spiced yogurt, hummus & foxnuts … for the love of bread

Genoa Fougasse“Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all it’s flavour.”
William Cowper

Genoa Fougasse turned out to be the best bread I’ve baked in a while. Sometimes you just need ‘bread luxury’, and this became that and much more. The difference here was the new level of deliciousness brought on by the addition of a gourmet spice blend, Genoa, from Sprig. It brought the flavours alive, went beautifully with the cheese and walnuts within, making it our new favourite bread at home. French Fougasse has always been on top of my list of fave breads. The Genoa Fougasse just knocked it off!Masala Dabba, spices

The Masala Dabba #2Spices have always fascinated me since I entered the kitchen. My love affair with them getting more intense when I joined Dolphia and Simi on the spice journey with The Masala Dabba. The colours, the flavours, the versatility never cease to amaze. I am rather light handed with spices in the kitchen, using them only to enhance flavours rather than overpower the dish. The fougasse I planned to make was just a cheese and walnut bread.Genoa Fougasse with SprigIt’s a dough I’ve been working with, an experiment which goes on substituting grains on the go. I wanted a light bread, so I decided to stay half whole wheat and half plain flour. Also instead of water, I like kneading my dough with cultured buttermilk. Kills two birds with one stone, no make it four! Adds some calcium, makes the dough buttery light, reacts faster with the yeast, and of course lends beautiful flavour too! I recently did pitas with a similar dough, playing around with the quantities a little. Seems to work its charm each time!Genoa Fougasse with SprigThe  charm however turned to absolute joy with this gourmet spice blend from Sprig. The spice blends arrived as the dough was proofing. On a whim I decided to add some to the bread. The fresh flavours please you as you undo the foil, the aromas very enticing. The packaging is quite eye catching, the quality excellent. If you look closely, you can pick out the ingredients as listed on the box.Genoa Fougasse with Sprig It’s quite a generous portion in the box, will see me for a while. It added colour, flavour and real happiness to the fougasse which was quite aptly renamed Sprig’s Genoa Fougasse. I can see a Syracuse Fougasse, maybe a Tangier Fougasse in the future perhaps. That’s the really nice thing about spice blends. They are so versatile to use – as a rub, marinade, glaze, paste, crumb, sprinkle or dressing! Or like me, with my imagination on about everything. You can see just what happened!!Genoa Fougasse. Also Malacca Spiced Yogurt, Tangier Hummus & Syracuse FoxnutsI made a Genoa Dipping Oil to serve alongside the bread. Just when you think the bead can’t get any better, one dip into the oil and you reach another exciting new level. Ideas popped into my head. You can do Malacca Naans or Tangier Pita Breads! Imagine a themed meal with the spice blend running through the meal? Really had me happy. Tangier Pitas with Tangier marinated grilled chicken, a hearty salad within paired with a mild Tangier laced salad dressing. Just the idea makes me happy!Falafel with Sprig Gourmet Spice BlendAs I see spices, new ideas constantly develop in my head. How about a spice blend spiked yogurt, like a raita. I gently tried sprinkling some Malacca and melon seeds over home made yogurt. I can’t even begin to tell you how addictive that was. It was actually bowl scraping good. Next time it’s going to be either grated radish, a spice blend, chopped walnuts, maybe a dash of garlic and fresh mint or coriander as a side. The possibilities bring a smile to my face, somewhat like these fox nuts {or makhanas below}.

Spiced Yogurt and FoxnutsAs the days pass by, there is always something interesting happening in the kitchen. These days falafal seems to rule, hummus much in demand. While attempting to make hummus the other day, I added the Tangier Spice Blend on a whim since it seemed to tie in with the region. What an amazing result. It lifted the hummus to a new delicious level. The daughter dug in asking where it was from. ‘You made it? Really? This is much better than store bought hummus‘.Tangier Hummus with SprigSo chuffed, I added some into the falafal mix as well. This turned out to be fun! Pitas, falafal, garlicky dip, salad all happening in tandem!Falafel & Tangier Hummus with SprigThis gourmet spice blend from Sprig is available at Nature’s Basket, Foodhall and many stores across India. Locate a store here, else shop at the online store.

Gourmet Spice Blends from SprigSprig has offered to giveaway a set of the Gourmet Spice Blend to a reader of Passionate About Baking.

To enter all you need to so is like Sprig on FB and tell me what dish you would make with any {or all of the spice blends} should you win. I’ll pick a winner on the 25th of July. You must be a resident of India to enter.

SprigGV8A4720

Genoa Fougasse

Genoa Fougasse turned out to be the best bread I've baked in a while. Sometimes you just need 'bread luxury', and this became that and much more. The difference here was the new level of deliciousness brought on by the addition of a gourmet spice blend, Genoa, from Sprig. It brought the flavours alive, went beautifully with the cheese and walnuts within, making it our new favourite bread at home.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Bread dough

  • 130 g aata
  • 130 g maida
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 200 ml buttermilk

Filling

  • 1 1/2 tbsp Sprig Genoa spice blend
  • 100 g mozzarella grated
  • 50 g walnuts, toasted, chopped

Topping

  • 20 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Sprig Genoa spice blend
  • 2-3 Few sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink rock salt

Instructions
 

  • Bread dough
  • Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer. Mix gently first at speed 2 for a couple of minutes, then at speed 4 for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic.
  • Add a spoon or two of buttermilk if the dough is a bit hard, or a spoon or two of flour if it is still sticky.
  • Cover the bowl with clingwrap and leave in a warm place for an hour until doubled. {Alternatively, leave in the fridge overnight for a slow rise}
  • Preheat oven to 225C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Knock back dough, and flatten to a rough rectangle of 8" X 4" on a floured surface. Drizzle a little olive oil, then sprinkle over with Sprig Genoa Spice Blend. Top with grated cheese and walnuts. Fold into thirds, flatten again, and fold into thirds again.
  • Place on prepared cookies tray, and shape into large oval, about an inch high. Cut slits through the dough to resemble leaf like cuts. Drizzle over with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle over with more spice blend, rosemary sprigs and Himalayan rock salt. Leave to rise while you preheat the oven to 20 minutes.
  • Bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven, middle shelf, both upper and lower elements, until puffy and golden brown. Serve with a spice blend infused extra virgin olive oil for dipping.

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

10 Comments

  • Sj Dc

    my mind is running wild with fruit/veg salad combos that would get such a favour boost fromthese spice blends

  • Madhuli

    What a gorgeous post!❤❤❤
    I am thinking how the Tangier will taste in homemade spiced Labneh, the Malacca in a Tabbouleh or paw paw salad,the Genoa in a eggplant-macaroni timbale and maybe the syracuse as a rub for grilled veggies…of course I will know only when I taste them ?

  • Bindiya

    Deeba your posts transport me to a different world altogether! I am readying to get out my chickpeas and go for that falafel and in between wouldn’t it be delicious to sprinkle some of that Tangier onto my home made Lavash crackers, or that Genoa stuffed into little saucy tortellini turning it into flavourful spicy bags. The Syracuse would be blended into pinenuts and pesto and rubbed onto Chicken giving it a crisp crust, the Malacca onto some beetroot tinged hummus… ohhh the things you can do with these spices!!

  • sharanya palanisshami

    would like to use Genoa in my breads and also sprinkle on top of pizza.Malacca in the curries especially Thai and Japanese curries.Syracuse as marinate . Tangier for salads and relish.

  • Shalini

    Your pictures just want to make me pick up spoon and dig into YOUR bowl of hummus…. greedy ,I knkw …but the images are so fabulous.
    I love the idea of infusing some of that oriental Malacca spice into a pannacotta ,and sprinkle some tangier spice over a chicken malai tikka. Wi take it to another level. And i quite love the idea of Genoa on a homemade pizza… I love tangy fruit but have been trying to get myself to finish a small bowl of papaya. For all the goodness of the fruit,I cant seem to get past a few forkfulls. Maybe a generous dash of Syracuse spice mix will break that gag barrier

  • Ritika Yadav

    Hi Deeba!

    What you are doing in the food blogging world is just superb! Every post of yours is a story in itself. I just wanna take this moment to praise your pictures but I am sure you get this praise every single day.
    The spice mixes from Sprig seem really exciting. I am surely gonna try them and may be make some Caponata using the Genoa Mix. I guess the Tangier Masala Mix will go well be most Indian and Lebanese dishes…so this Hummus recipe of yours is definitely up for grabs!

    Much love!

  • tasteaholics

    Wow I love those shots of the spices. They’re ALL amazing! You really have developed spice palette. Thanks for sharing those

  • Shumaila

    Fougasse has been on my list of things to bake too and constant reminders like yours just keep motivating me to get to it soon. I used to love sprig vanilla extract and am pretty excited that they have started a spice blend too. Gorgeous photography as alwaus.

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