How to make the Best Tuscan Sourdough Bread

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‘Taste of Tuscany’ bread is a wonderful, savoury sourdough loaf, perfect for a light summery lunch.  The tomato and herb flavours really elevate this bread to a new level of deliciousness.

Ways to Enjoy ‘Taste of Tuscany’ Sourdough Bread

This sourdough loaf is a definite savoury loaf, and lends itself best to dinnertime or savoury meals. I don’t think it would be nice with my old fave, peanut butter and honey!

• Simply, with butter, chopped garlic and herbs.  This is so yummy paired with my Hungarian Goulash or Tomato Lentil Soup!
• Top it with salad, mayonnaise, and shredded chicken (Just had that for dinner, YUM!).
• Make it into a toasted cheese sandwich with your favourite cheese and relish.
• Poached eggs, Mayonnaise, avocado and Balsamic glaze.
• Or just sliced with your favourite cheese, tomato and herbs.  What a delicious lunch!
• Sauteed Mushrooms with a sprinkling of blue cheese
• Ham and Coleslaw
• Make a Reuben out of slice Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, Cheese and Mustard.

Here are the ingredients you will need for this loaf:

• Sourdough starter
• Sundried Tomato paste – you can buy this in paste form or just get a jar of sundried tomatoes in oil, and blend it.
• Warm water
• Beans, of any kind.  The beans are blended so you cannot detect their distinct texture, and they make the bread so nice and soft.  Plus, they inject some protein into the bread. WIN!
• Salt – essential.  Bread without salt is just gross.
• Oregano – to enhance that Tuscany flavour
• Flour

How much time is needed to make the loaf?

The timeline for this loaf is pretty much identical to my other sourdough loaves. The starter is fed the night before you want to make the dough.  Day 2 is spent making the dough, shaping, and proving.  I love this part because this is where the flavour inventions take place. Day 3 is bake day.

While this loaf does take a lot of time, there is very little hands-on work.  Most of the time is proving.  There is no kneading, and the stretching and folding and shaping is actually very simple, once you have done it a few times.

Don’t give up on Sourdough bread!

Once you get into the habit of making sourdough regularly, you may be surprised and how easy it actually is.  Sourdough recipes are long and daunting, but once you know all the basic steps (and they are basic, once you break them down), eventually you will not even need to refer a recipe. 

I usually make two or three loaves at once, which makes full use of the time required for the dough.  I do not want to have to go through the process more than once a week!

‘Taste of Tuscany’ Sourdough Bread Timeline:

Night before:

You will need to feed your starter the night before you want to make the dough, so that it is nice and bubbly for the next day. Bear in mind, the bread will not be baked the next day.

The Next Day:

Day two is primarily making the dough, stretching it, and prooving it. You will not bake the bread on this day, because it needs to be left overnight to cold ferment in the fridge.

Combine starter, beans, sundried tomato paste, and water.  Blend until smooth – you don’t want to detect those beans! Add flour, salt and herbs and mix until a cohesive dough is formed.  You will need to use your hands at this stage to really knead it together.  No other kneading is required, promise!

Leave to rest for half an hour.

Stretch and Fold

For the next 2 hours, do 4 stretch and folds, 30 minutes apart.

Bulk Ferment

Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for a minimum of 6 hrs (be careful not to over-prove at this stage.  If it is warm, leave for a maximum of 8 hrs, just to be safe).

Shape

Tip the dough out onto the bench.  With damp hands, stretch the dough out as far as it will go without tearing.  Then, bring each corner to the centre of the dough.  Flip it over cup your hands at the top of the dough and pull it across the bench towards you.  This should make the surface of the dough nice and taut.

Turn it back over and leave to rest for 40 minutes, on the bench.

Repeat this step, except, leave the taut surface of the dough remaining upwards.

Overnight Ferment

Line your proving bowl with a tea towel, and dust with flour (if you wish. I have discovered that it doesn’t need it. Can look aesthetically pleasing, though).  Transfer the dough, with the taut surface facing down into the bowl.

Leave overnight in the fridge.

Next Day

Finally the day has arrived to bake the bread. Since the dough will last pretty long in the fridge (up to 36 hours), you can bake it at any time to suit you.

The great thing about this recipe is that you do not need to let the bread come to room temperature before baking. Simply heat up the oven, retrieve the bread from the fridge, bung into the heated Dutch Oven, and bake!

Bake

An hour before you want to start baking, preheat a casserole dish/dutch oven in the oven at 250 degrees Celsius. 

After 45 minutes, carefully transfer dough to a sheet of baking paper.  Score the tight surface of the dough to any extent your artistry desires.

Transfer to the (hot) casserole dish, putting the lid firmly on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

‘Taste Of Tuscany’ Bread Baking Notes

I actually leave the lid on for the full 45 minutes baking time. If you desire, take the lid off after 30 mins and bake with the lid off a further 15-20 minutes, to give the bread a deeper colour.

It’s easier to cut the dough after waiting for a few hours but sometimes you just want to see those air pockets straight away!