Caramelised Onion & Sage Bread

This bread is from the Ballymaloe Collection and was made by Rachel Allen the day I visited the Cookery School this summer. Bread has always been my weakness. It is the one food that I always without fail tend to over indulge in at a meal! This bread was served fresh out of the oven in Ballymaloe and was so warm and comforting. It has a gorgeous crusty exterior and soft doughy inside oozing with the caramelised onions. This bread is served best warm with lashings of Kerrygold butter melting into it. 

I baked it recently for friends and it went down a storm served alongside some smokey bacon soup. It is so easy to make if you have an electric mixer and are patient and willing to let it rise slowly. 

Ingredients

215ml warm water 

1 teaspoon of caster sugar 

1 sachet 7g of fast action yeast

15g butter or 15ml olive oil (plus a little extra for greasing the tin)

350g strong white bread flour 

1 teaspoon of salt 

For the onion mixture 

2 tablespoons of olive oil 

800g peeled and sliced thinly white onions (7-8 onions)

Coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

2 tablespoons of dried sage 

Loaf tin 12 x 23 cm (5 x 9inch) 

Begin my preparing the yeast mixture. Mix together the warm water, caster sugar, yeast and olive oil if using instead of the butter. Leave to sit in a warm place for 5-10 minutes until it foams. 

Sieve the flour and salt together into a large bowl. If using butter instead of oil rub into the flour now. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook knead the mixture for up to 6-7minutes. If kneading by hand this can take up to 10 minutes. You know the dough is ready when it is smooth and springy to touch. Grease the bowl with a little olive oil and add the smooth dough back to it. Cover with cling film and a tea towel and leave to prove for 3-4hours at room temperature until it has doubled in size. 

Once the dough is rising you can start to make the onion mixture. Using a heavy based saucepan or good non-stick frying pan heat some olive oil. Add the very thinly sliced onions and stir coating the onions. Add in the sage and season generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook the onions until they begin to sizzle, once this happens turn down the heat to the lowest setting and leave to cook for 1-2hours. Over the time they will begin to turn a lovely golden colour. Keep stirring every now and then to prevent sticking. Once golden remove the onions and leave to cool before adding them to the dough. 

When the dough has doubled in size tip the cooked onions over the bowl and punch the onion mixture into the dough. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and tuck in any of the stray onions that may fall away. Shape the dough into an oval shape and add it into the oiled loaf tin. Brush the top of the loaf with a little olive oil and leave to prove once more for 30minutes in a warm environment covered with a tea-towel.

Preheat the oven to 220℃/Gas Mark 7. 

Place the loaf in the very hot oven and bake for 10minutes and then turn the temperature down to 200℃/Gas Mark 6 and continue to bake for 30-35minutes or until golden brown on top. 

When the loaf is cooked, it should remove easily from the tin and sound hollow at the base when tapped. Allow to cool completely (up to one hour) before slicing on a wire tray. 

Enjoy with some wholesome soup!