Cornmeal Bread Baked on Cabbage Leaves

How to prepare cornmeal bread baked on cabbage leaves

1. Dissolve the yeast in 50ml lukewarm water. Leave it in a warm place until it rises and becomes foamy (about 15 minutes).
2. Put the cornmeal and 200ml water in a small pot and cook, stirring frequently, until the cornmeal absorbs all the water. Let it cool down.
3. In a bowl, put 250g flour and make a well in the middle. Add the risen yeast, 100ml water and the swollen cornmeal. Knead until you get a homogeneous dough. It will be very sticky. I put it to knead in the bread machine on the 13-minute program. Let the dough rise covered, in a warm place, for 2 hours.
4. Put the remaining 250g flour in a bowl, add in the middle the remaining 100ml water in which you dissolved the salt and the risen dough. Knead the dough again until it becomes elastic. This time it will be only slightly sticky. I kneaded it again with the bread machine (13 minutes).
5. Let the dough rise covered, in a warm place, for another 30 minutes.
6. Sprinkle cornmeal and a little white flour on the work surface. Turn out the risen dough and shape it into a ball, rolling it through the cornmeal.
8. Line the bottom of a pot (I used a Dutch oven) with cabbage leaves, making sure the leaves go up the sides too. Place the shaped dough on the leaves. Cover the pot and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240°C and place a small pot with water at the very bottom.
10. Put the pot with bread in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 210°C (remove the water pot) and bake for another 30 minutes.
11. Remove the bread from the pot and peel off the cabbage leaves. Let the bread cool completely, then it can be sliced.

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