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It seemed like everywhere you turned there was someone eulogising about the magnificence of spelt. They featured a farmer who had gone back to growing the stuff and was now coining it due to some middle-class fad of using an ancient relative of modern wheat in their constant search for the secret to life itself. So being middle-class I bought some. And what luck, I happened to have just the right amount black olives in a jar in the fridge.

It’s a recipe for bread with olives in it, so not difficult just a bit time-consuming, a Saturday afternoon rather than a Tuesday evening.

Preparation time: 2 hours (including the rising time)
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Skill level: Easy
Serves: it’s a loaf of bread, how hungry are you?

Ingredients

• spelt flour - 250g
• salt - 1/2tsp
• dried yeast - 1tsp
• caster sugar - 1tsp
• warm water - 160ml
• olive oil - 3tbsp
• black olives - pitted - 70g

Mix together the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large bowl.

Add the water and mix into the flour.

Before the dough is as one, add the oil and knead until smooth and elastic. Then return to the bowl and loosely cover with oiled clingfilm. Leave in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Turn onto a floured surface, gradually add the olives and knead for five minutes. Put into an oiled 1kg bread tin, cover again with the film and leave for another hour, or until the dough reaches the top of the tin. Pre-heat oven to 220C (gas mark 7).
Bake for 35 minutes.

Verdict: Hmm, bready and then olivey too. There are enough of them to feature in most bites. Cut into morsels and dipped in a good olive oil, I could make a fortune at Borough Market.
Drink: A cup of tea in the early days euphoria of not drinking booze for a few weeks.
Entertainment: What do you mean entertainment, it’s all about hair shirts at this time of year. You get used to the itching after a while.