Weigh the flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, fennel seeds and chopped rosemary and stir to evenly distribute, followed by the butter, milk and water. Knead the dough on your work surface until it is smooth and pliable.

Shape it into a ball, and place it in a lightly oiled bowl covered with a tea towel. Leave it to prove at room temperature until it has doubled in size (in my current winter kitchen this is taking 90 minutes to two hours). This may take less or more time depending on the temperature in your kitchen, in hot weather it will develop faster.

Using a dough scraper, divide your dough into 12 equal sized lumps and shape them into balls.

I like to bake these in a baking dish, where they spread out into each other almost to form a loaf which you can then pull apart. To do this, butter a baking dish and place the lumps of dough into it in rows. Alternatively you can also bake them on semolina floured baking trays, spaced out for a more rounded dinner roll.

Cover and leave to prove for 40-60 minutes until they have puffed up and spread out (if the weather is warm, again the dough will go faster, check after 30 minutes or so).

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Glaze the rolls with beaten egg using a pastry brush and sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes and extra rosemary.

Bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown on top and baked through. Leave to cool on a wire rack. These buns are best eaten on the day of making, and will last for a day or two afterwards.

You can sprinkle some fresh herbs on for extra flavour if you like, or serve them just as they are with lots of butter on the side.