We all know that I love Brad Leone, my sourdough starter is named after him. I got his new cookbook for Christmas and was excited to see that he shared his sourdough recipe. Brad’s recipe is completely different from Claire Saffitz recipe that I had been using from the New York Times. Brad’s recipe incorporates olive oil which brings out a fatty flavor that I love in the bread. Brad also doesn’t require you to knead the dough for 20 minutes, which my arms appreciate. If you’re making bread at all it’s increcibly important to have a kitchen scale.
Ingredients
You need a total of 1000g of flour, it can be of different types, but Brad notes it also can be 1000g of all the same
- 700 g Bread Flour
- 150g Rye Flour [I used whole wheat]
- 150 Fine Italian Flour/type “00” [ I just used the bread flour again]
- 750g Filtered, Room Temp Water
- 15g Fine Salt
- 30g Extra-Virgin Olive Oil [I had a little fun here and used my herbs de provence oil]
- 150g Active Starter, fed the night before
Lets Get Cooking
Sift the flours together into a large bowl and mix in the water. You want the flours to autolyze which will help build up the gluten development. Make sure there is no dry flour left in the bowl. Cover and let sit for at least 30 minutes, you can let it sit for longer.
Once you’re done letting the flours autolyze, add salt + oil + starter to the flour mixture. Using your hands, knead the mixture into a smooth uniform ball. You can knead by gently pulling the dough and folding it over itself, or whatever kneading method works for you. Once you get the dough how you like it, place it back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. This will begin the fermenting process. Be sure to leave the dough at room temperature.
Here’s the part where you need to watch.
Every 60 minutes during the fermenting process you’re going to have to ‘turn’ the dough. This is done by wetting your hands and pulling up a side of the dough and folding it over itself. Turn 90 degrees and complete these ‘turns’ on all 4 sides. After each turn, cover again and let the dough rest. Depending on how your dough is fermenting you may do 3 turns, you may do 6. Once you’ve noticed that the dough has about doubled in size in the bowl and has a light and airy texture.
Once your fermentation is done it’s time to shape and bake! Flour a surface and let the dough fall out. Cut the dough in half if you are making bread, if you are making pizza dough, cut it into 4 equal pieces. With a bench scraper, slide it under the dough and turn, making it into a ball almost. Have floured bowls ready to place the shaped dough back into it and cover. Flip the dough into the floured bowl so that the bottom of the loaf is facing up. You can refrigerate for a day, which I recommend. Or you can bake that day.
Preheat the oven to 500F and place the dutch oven with the lid on into the oven. Gently flip out the dough onto a floured piece of parchment paper. Cut the top of the dough so it can release steam while baking. Place the dough/parchment into the dutch oven, cover, lower the temp to 460F and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Remove the lid and then let bake for another 45 minutes.
Let sit for about an hour before cutting into it!
If you’re making pizza with the dough, follow along with my sourdough pizza recipe after making the dough!
Made with Love,
Hannah
Hangry Hannah 