tear-and-share dough balls

Recipe from Vegan Fakeaway by Katy Beskow (Quadrille, £15) Photography © Luke Albert.

Everyone loves a warm dough ball (or two), served with lashings of garlic butter for that all-important dipping. This tear-and-share version is simple to make with store cupboard ingredients, and is set to be a real crowd-pleaser!

Serves 4 as a side dish or starter

Suitable for freezing

300g (2½ cups) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ tsp fast-action dried yeast

generous pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing

For the garlic butter

100g (3½oz) vegan butter

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

small handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

generous pinch of sea salt

get ahead

The dough balls are suitable for freezing once cooked: simply defrost thoroughly and reheat before serving. Whip up the garlic butter fresh to get the best flavours from that allimportant dip.

Place the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl (ensuring the yeast and salt are placed on opposite sides of the bowl).

Stir in the sunflower oil, along with 200ml (generous ¾ cup) lukewarm water, and bring together to form a dough.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with a little flour, then tip the dough out and knead for 10 minutes until soft and elastic.

Lightly grease a baking dish with oil. Divide the dough into about 12 even pieces and roll them into balls. Arrange in the baking dish, positioned close to each other but not touching (they will increase in size during proving). Cover the baking dish with cling film (plastic wrap), then place the dish in a warm place to prove for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the garlic butter. Mix together the vegan butter, olive oil, garlic and parsley in a small bowl, then season to taste with sea salt.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/ gas mark 6. Remove the cling film from the baking dish, then bake the proved dough balls in the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and immediately brush with some of the garlic butter. Serve warm with the remaining garlic butter on the side for dipping.