rustic rosemary salt sourdough bread
- Emily Hurwitz
- May 16, 2020
- 3 min read
Like many people, I've resorted to baking bread during quarantine. I've never really been a fan of bread-making because I have absolutely no patience. When I want food, I want it now. But this quarantine has forced me to be patient, and what better way to pass the time than making bread? And sourdough, which pretty much doubles any bread time.
I received a sourdough starter from my friend Eli and now I refer to my starter as my child. You have to feed it and look after it, and if you don't, it will die. It needs attention and I heavily relate to that. My starter's name is Lola and I am a proud sourdough mom.
I've been experimenting with different sourdough recipes for a few weeks now, but I haven't found one that really speaks to me. I'm also obsessed with rosemary and I miss Collegetown Bagel's rosemary salt bagels. I really liked this recipe for all-purpose flour sourdough bread (because you can't find bread flour now anyway!) and decided to adapt it to create a rosemary salt all-purpose flour sourdough recipe. This is actually so much easier than it seems.
Ingredients
50 g active, bubbly 100% hydration sourdough starter (feed 8-12 hours before)
500 g all-purpose flour (11.7% protein)**
330 g water
9 g fine sea salt
3 rosemary sprigs
Olive oil (about 1/4 cup) for brushing bread
More sea salt (fine or course) for top of bread
More rosemary (fresh or dried) for top of bread
** If using a higher protein AP flour (Bob's Red Mill, King Arthur, Trader Joe's, Canadian brands -- all of these have 11.7% protein), you will only need about 500 g. I have also used Walmart brand AP flour and found that I needed more flour. Around 540 g should suffice if using a generic brand.
Instructions
Combine sourdough starter, water, and salt. Mix until well-combined
Slowly add in flour, incorporating with a fork until all combined. You can also do this with a stand mixer with a bread hook and mix until combined. The dough should be thick and slightly sticky, but not so sticky that it will stick to your hands. Add more flour, 1 tbps at a time, until you get to this consistency.
Cover with plastic wrap or a moist towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
Form dough into a ball by doing stretch and folds: take 1 side and fold into middle of dough. Do this all the way around until the dough is essentially turned inside out. To give the dough extra strength, I like to go around a few times, but this is optional. Cover and let rest for an hour.
After 1 hour, do another cycle of stretch and folds. Cover again and let rest for another hour.
Just before the next hour is up, chop up 3 rosemary sprigs. At the end of the hour, do another set of stretch and folds. Between each fold, add in about 1/3 of the rosemary. I like to really work my dough here, making sure that the rosemary is fully incorporated throughout the dough.
Cover again and let rise for 10 hours (bulk rise!)
PRESHAPE: After the bulk rise, turn dough onto a floured surface. It should have risen significantly and look light, not dense. DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH. Gently fold the sides into the middle. Flip over so the smooth side is up. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
SHAPE: Flip dough over again so the smooth side is facing down and cup the dough in your hands to form a ball. Gently pull the dough toward you. Here's a good video about how to shape it. Line a bowl with a towel, flour it, and place dough in the bowl seam-side up. Cover dough with sides of towel and let rest for 1 hour.
Preheat oven with covered dutch oven inside to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut a very large sheet of parchment paper and turn the dough onto the center. Score the dough with a sharp knife or bread lame however you wish but make sure to make quick, decisive cuts.
Brush the entire surface with olive oil, then sprinkle however much rosemary and sea salt you wish.
Transfer the parchment paper with the dough to the dutch oven.
Bake covered for 20 minutes.
Take cover off and bake 30-40 more minutes uncovered, until the crust is a golden - deep brown.
Take bread out of dutch oven and transfer to a wire rack.
Important!!! You must wait at least an hour before cutting, or else the bread will be gummy.
Enjoy! This is really great bread for paninis but tastes amazing by itself, too.
Here's the timeline that I usually use:
7-7:15 pm: make dough
7:45 pm: first set of stretch and folds
8:45 pm: second set of stretch and folds
9:45 pm: third set of stretch and folds (+rosemary)
Next morning:
8 am: preshape
8:30 am: pre-heat oven and shape dough
9:30: bake bread
12 pm: cut bread and use for lunch!
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