Sun Dried Tomato Soda Bread

Soda bread is a nice alternative to yeasted bread when you are having soup or a stew. We have had a couple cold days recently, so I fired up the oven and made sun dried tomato soda bread. I love the richness of flavour sun dried tomatoes tend to things. You could replace the paprika with oregano or thyme if you like.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
500 ml buttermilk
about 80 ml of soaking water from tomatoes
50 g sun dried tomatoes (dry packed) plus boiling water to cover

Put the sun dried tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to sit for about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the flours, baking soda, salt and paprika together. Saving the soaking liquid, remove the tomatoes from the water and chop them. Stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture. Add enough of the tomato soaking water to make a sticky dough. Stir in the chopped tomatoes.

On a floured surface, bring the dough together into ball, flatten it slightly, and put it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut a deep cross in the bread to help the center cook.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

I cut mine right away as we were ready to eat, but it is better if you let it cool for 15-30 minutes. Cut the bread in quarters and slice each quarter. I usually freeze half of it when fully cool.

Toasted leftovers also make flavourful croutons for salads!