Good Bread for Pennies?

There really shouldn't be a question mark in the title as three recent attempts, all successful, at making flatbreads has proved. No pun intended. Honest. HFW should get the plaudits, though I did make chapattis ages ago with a similar recipe. I was inspired by his recipe in River Cottage Everyday to give it another go as an accompaniment to his equally excellent spiced-up lamb burgers. Credit where credit is due.

You need (again no pun etc) 250g of flour, plain is ok but bread flour works best, 1 tsp of salt, a good tbsp of decent oil (best results so far with a delicious rapeseed oil), and 150ml of water on the warm side. Mix together, kneed for about 6 - 7 minutes, then cover and leave to prove for at least 15 minutes, ideally 30. Divide the dough into 8 - 10 pieces and roll them into very thin round(-ish) crepe-thin breads, using a bit more flour to prevent them sticking to the surface on which you roll them. Cook on a dry (no oil), non-stick frying pan that you have got very hot beforehand, each side only needs about a minute, you can tell how they are doing by the bubbles that puff up and the savoury bread smell, but lifting an edge to peek is fine too. Keep them warm in the oven while you do the rest. Great stuffed with crunchy salad, better with a homemade burger. These will replace buns for me in the coming BBQ season.

As regards ease, my 15-year-old son did last night's, nothing burned, nothing wasted, and only a bit of flour on his school trousers to show he had been involved. The one tricky bit is removing surplus flour from the pan after each is cooked - necessary to avoid creating an insulating barrier and as it burns and doesn't look great on the finished articles.

The lot cost less than 20p, though under the system of bribes we operate for help in the kitchen said son gets £1 bonus added to his pocket money. Worth it either way, they are at once crisp and light, free from supermarket-bread additives, and dead easy to fill and eat.

Do use them quickly, they don't improve with age (according to Hugh FW - we have never had leftovers).