Continuing with the traditional bread recipes, the delight we will prepare in this post is: the ‘pan cateto’ (rustic bread) recipe. It might not sound familiar, but it is one of the most typical breads of Andalusia, especially of Málaga. This bread is also known as country-style bread. It is a loaf that lasts several days in a row without spoiling. The most common thing is to prepare it with bread flour, one of the oldest varieties of hard wheat. As a result, you get a tight crumbed bread without any holes.
For a better result, our recommendation is to use a dough kneading machine, so all the ingredients can be well combined and you will obtain an elastic dough without getting tired during the kneading.
Bread flour (500 g), water (293 ml), salt (10 gr), dry yeast (4 g)
1. Start by dissolving the yeast in the water, which must be at room temperature.
2. Use a big bowl to add the flour and gradually pour in the water. Stir or knead until both ingredients are mixed. Add the salt and continue kneading.
3. Place the dough on a smooth, clean surface and continue kneading until it is even and elastic.
4. Put the dough in a bowl until it doubles in size. The longer you leave it the better, up to a couple of hours. The room must have a mild temperature, around 20ºC. You can rub some olive oil on the bowl so that the dough does not stick.
5. Knead the dough again to give it a round shape.
6. Once the baking tray is covered with baking paper, you can place the dough on it. Cover it with a dry cloth until it rises again and consequently increases in volume.
7. Preheat the oven to 240ºC and make some cuts on the bread surface.
8. Put the bread in the oven and keep it at this temperature for the first ten minutes. Then lower it to 200ºC and let it bake for 50 minutes. To make the crust crispy, every now and then it is convenient to spray the dough with water. When the bread is ready, let it cool down.
