For International #RealBreadWeek I have been experimenting with savory flavors for sourdough by adding Italian seasoning. The first test ended up a bit strong for my liking, but the neighbor’s kids really liked it. They called it pizza bread, and they loved snacking on throughout the day.
The idea of pizza bread points to focaccia (my recipe was taken from The Perfect Loaf), which I enjoyed baking and eating. But when you think of pizza, you think of crispy, thin dough heaped with toppings. Focaccia, on the other hand, is usually thicker with fewer toppings.
…but Maruizo says it so much better than me:
“Focaccia is a rustic and simple affair: it’s a slab of naturally leavened dough topped with simple ingredients, any vegetable in season, olive oil, and salt. Some focaccia are soft, and some are crispy (my preference), sometimes thick and sometimes thin. There are as many variations across Italy as there are dialects. The beauty of this bread is that you can make it with little effort. First, mix the dough in the morning, then let it rise during the day, and finally bake it just before dinner. If you have a ripe sourdough starter, salt, and olive oil, you’re hours away from golden focaccia—and all the wonderful olfactory impressiveness therein—baking in your home oven.”
Maurizio Leo, The Perfect Loaf
That mouth-watering description got me wondering if the traditional slab-style bread could be shaped into a boule or a bâtard shape (or even an épi de blé) for a focaccia loaf. I had the seasoning on hand, some canned mushrooms and black olives, and since I had been wanting to try Chad Robertson’s Tartine County Bread, this is his recipe adapted for focaccia bread.
ITALIAN SEASONED MUSHROOM AND OLIVE SOURDOUGH
Ingredients
- FOR THE LEAVEN
- 1 cup*/200 grams of warmish water
- 1 cup*/100 grams white-bread flour
- 1 cup*/100 grams whole-wheat flour
- FOR THE BREAD
- 1 cup*/200 grams leaven
- 3 cups*/700 grams of warmish water
- 7 cups†/900 grams white-bread flour
- 1 cup*/100 grams whole-wheat flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 Tbsp*/20 grams fine sea salt
- 4 Tbsp/5 grams Italian Seasoning
- 1¾ cups/315 grams pitted olives, whole or chopped, any variety or mixed
- 1 cup/62.5 grams sliced mushrooms
- ⅔ cup/100 grams rice flour
- * make one scant
- † make one heaping
Directions
Make the Leaven
- The night before you will be baking, stir 1 tablespoon of mature starter into 1 cup/200 grams of warmish water until well dispersed.
- Mix in a scant cup/100 grams white-bread flour and a scant cup/100 grams whole-wheat flour and combine well.
- Cover this with a towel and allow to rest at room temperature overnight or until bubbly and puffed in appearance.
(To test for leaven readiness, drop 1 tablespoon of it into a container of room-temperature water; it is ready if it floats. If not give it more time to ferment.)
Make the Dough
- Mix a scant cup/200g of leaven with 3 cups*/700 grams of warmish water. Stir to disperse.
(Reserve remaining leaven for future baking.) - Add 7 cups†/900 grams of white-bread flour and 1 scant cup/100 grams of whole-wheat flour to the water and levan.
- Using your hands, mix until any traces of dry flour are gone; the dough will be shaggy.
- Cover the bowl with a towel rest in an autolyse for 25–40 minutes at room temperature.
- After that, add a scant tablespoon/20 grams of fine sea salt, nearly one-quarter cup/50 grams warm water, mushrooms, and olives. Mix these ingredients thoroughly into the dough. It may start to pull apart, but continue mixing until it comes back together.
- Cover dough with a towel and place it somewhere warm (75°F/24°C) to rise for 30 minutes.
- After that, stretch and fold the dough by wetting your hands and then taking hold of the dough’s underside, then stretch it up over the rest of itself. Repeat this three more times, rotating the bowl a quarter turn for every fold.
- Repeat this stretching and folding set every half-hour three more times during the next hour and a half. The dough should feel billowy and begin to increase in volume. If not, then continue the stretching and folding sets for another hour.
- Then dump the dough onto your work surface, dusting the top with flour.
- Next, cut dough into two equal-size pieces. Fold the cut side of each piece up onto itself as if diapering the dough, but make sure flour on the dough stays on the outside of the boule as this will become the crust.
- Work dough into tight rounds by cupping your hands in front of the ball and pulling toward you, watching as the surface tautens.
- Place the shaped dough on your work surface, and cover with a towel to rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix the rice flour with an equal part of whole-wheat flour for dusting two proofing baskets (or mixing bowls lined with tea towels; generously dust the towels with the flour mixture.) Reserve the rest of the flour mixture for later use.
- Repeat step 11 and place well-dusted loaves into proofing baskets, seam side up. Allow to this rise 3-4 hours at room temperature or overnight in a fridge, either way, covered with a tea towel.
- Preheat your oven to 500°F/260°C about an hour before baking. Then, about 30 minutes before baking, put a Dutch oven or combo cooker into the oven to also preheat.
- Dust tops of dough, still in their baskets, with whole-wheat/rice-flour mixture. Very carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and gently turn one loaf into the heated pot seam-side down.
- Using a lame (a baker’s blade) or sharp knife, score the top of the bread with a few slashes to allow for internal dough expansion, cover, and place in the oven.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F/230°C and bake for 20 minutes with the baking vessel’s lid on. Then remove the lid (caution as hot steam may be released) and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the crust gets a rich, golden brown color and the bottom of the loaf, when tapped should sound hollow.
- Once baked, transfer bread to a cooling rack for an hour or two before slicing.
- Slice and dip bread into olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
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