Jamie Oliver's Super-Food Protein Loaf

We just had to try this Super-Food Protein Loaf that seemed so apt for this Cape Town Cycle Tour weekend, where most Capetonians are either cycling or standing and walking around to support cyclists. In both cases, a protein boost is in order. With both almonds and pumpkin being high in protein, this loaf will keep you going!

The original recipe is a bit ambiguous about what type of flour to use, as it claims to be gluten-free. We decided not to go the gluten-free route, and used the Eureka Whole Wheat Meal, which adds to the nutty flavour and adds fiber. And then the Marmite… to say the least, it’s an acquired taste… So we’ve been very careful, and reduced it to a tiny teaspoon. Just to give it that salty bite. And as Marmite contains a lot of salt, and the seeds add a lot of flavour too, we didn’t add any additional salt.

For grinding the almonds, we used the OmniBlend I with a 2l jug. After soaking the almonds for a few hours, and then drying them, we only pulsed the nuts about 5 times to make a course almond meal. This type of loaf with seeds doesn’t call for a fine almond flour, so we opted for a rough grind. If you prefer it finer, just pulse a few times more. Rather pulse than blend though, to avoid it turning into butter.

Ingredients:

• 7 g instant yeast
• 350 ml water
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 fresh sprig of rosemary
• 100 g ground almonds
• 250 gram whole wheat flour
• 50 g linseeds
• 25 g sunflower seeds
• 75 g pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp (or less) Marmite
• 4 free-range eggs

 Directions:

Soak the raw almonds in water, and leave for a few hours. Rinse the almonds, and then dry, before starting to grind them in the blender. You would be adding to much moisture to the meal, and you want to keep it a course dry grind. Pulse the dried almonds in your OmniBlend just a few times, for a course almond meal. 

We only pulsed 5 times to keep the almond grind course. Pulse a few times more if you prefer a finer grind.

For the yeast mixture, combine yeast, lukewarm water, and olive oil in a jar, and leave for 5 minutes.

Add the whole wheat flour, ground almonds, and seeds to a large bowl, and mix together. Pick the leaves of the rosemary, chop very fine, and add to the flour mixture. Make a well in the middle of your flour and seed mixture.

Crack in the eggs, add the Marmite and beat together using a large whisk, then pour in the yeast mixture. The batter will be very runny, don’t worry about that.

Pre-heat the oven at 180C, and prepare a 28cm loaf tin with baking paper.

Pour the batter in the loaf tin, and bake for 1 hour, or till golden brown. Test whether it’s ready with a skewer, which should come out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 20 minutes before eating, then serve.

We served it with low fat cottage cheese, Italian tomatoes, and basil.

It’s a keeper for any action-packed day!