Flour from zea doesn't contain gluten, so it's a friendly alternative for people with gluten intolerance or celiac disease.
It is also rich in fiber, protein (the amino acid lycine), vitamins (like A, E, B) and minerals (such as magnesium) and is easily digestible.
I know that it is more expensive in comparison to the common white flour or even the whole wheat flour, but it's worth the money as it is great for your health and is really tasty too.
In Greece (where I live), the zea flour can be sold from 3,8 Euros
per Kilo from 5 Euros/kilo, depending on the shop, the package and the organic or non-organic label.
So......, let's get baking!!!
Here are the ingredients that you're going to need for this recipe:
Ingredients:
- 450 gr of zea (triticum dicoccum or emmer - not dinkel!!) flour
- 300 gr of warm water
- 1 tsp of himalayan pink salt or sea salt
- 1 tbsp of olive oil + 1 more tbsp
- 1 sachet of dried yeast (7 gr)
Instructions:
- In a large bowl, simply put all the ingredients together and mix well with your hands.
- You should have a slightly sticky, soft dough.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil inside the bowl, making sure that the back and the sides of the bowl are oily.
- Place the dough inside, cover it with a clean towel, and leave it rest for 1 hour (or a bit more) in a warm place (i.e. inside the oven while it is turned off of course).
- After 1 hour, the dough should have doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 185 degrees Celcius (365 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Use a bread tin to make a loaf by placing the dough inside. If you don't own a non-stick tin (like me), you can cut a piece of parchment paper and put it your tin to bake the dough.
- Bake your bread for approximately 30'. You can see if it's ready when you place a knife or a toothpick inside the bread. If it comes out clean, then it's ready. If it comes out sticky from the dough, then leave it to bake for a few more minutes.
Bread is ready!!!
For the nutritional facts, I calculated the numbers for 7 servings (a pretty good slice each one!)
So, we have:
Calories: 233,1 Kcal
Total Carbohydrates: 43,5 gr
Fiber: 4,8 gr
Protein: 9 gr
Total fat: 3,5 gr
*If your slices are bigger or smaller, then you can adjust your nutritional information to the servings yielded from your baked bread.
*Eat the Zea bread as you like; assorting your main dish of lunch/dinner or your soup, spreading tahini, peanut butter, ripe avocado, fruits or salsas on top.
Enjoy!