Pugliese Focaccia

1) Peel and roughly chop 1 medium potato, and boil it in water, reserving the water for later.Crush potato with a fork or put it through a ricer.

2) Mix 500 gr flour with teaspoon salt and 7 gr sachet of dry yeast, add your potato. 

3) Top up potato water with plain water to 500 ml keeping it tepid. Add this to the flour mix, mixing it with your hands until the consistency of wet porridge. Add more tepid water if necessary. You will need to keep mixing it in the bowl using fingers of your one hand and securing the bowl with another hand, pulling the dough up and strectching it, until air bubbles start rising to the surface when you leave it be for a minute.

4) Pour into well oiled tin, sprinkle olive oil on top and leave to double in size. 

5) Arrange topping of your choice - olives, oregano, cherry tomatoes etc. Bake at 200C for about half hour, or until browned and sounding hollow when tapped.

Mushroom Noodle Soup

125g chestnut mushrooms
125g shiitake mushroom
1ltr good flavoured vegetable stock
1stalk lemon grass, finely chopped
2cm ginger, peeled and chopped
juice of 1/2 lime

2 kaffir lime leaves
1tbsp dark soy sauce
clove garlic, crushed

oil for srying chestnut mushrooms
125g instant noodles

1) Cut stalks off shiitake mushrooms and reserve. Slice all mushrooms, keeping shiitake and chestnut mushrooms separate. Set aside.

2) Put stock into a saucepan together with the shiitake mushroom stalks, lemon grass, ginger, lime juice, lime leaves and soy sauce. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid and discarding vegetables. Return liquid to saucepan and reheat

3) Add sliced shiitake mushrooms to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile saute the garlic and chestnut mushrooms in about 2 tablespoons of oil, stirring all the time, until the mushrooms are softened. 

4) Add noodles to the saucepan and cook for about 3 minutes or until noodles are done. Add mushrooms and garlic to the saucepan.

Ready to serve!