Chewy Sourdough Italian Bread

Allan

Super Tasty, Incredibly Soft, Reliable

250g active sourdough starter, at its peak (see notes)

350g water (ideally bottled)

625g bread flour (King Arthur)

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (use good stuff)

2½ Teaspoons Table Salt (not kosher in this case)

1 Tablespoon Big Crunchy salt for sprinkling

Put the sourdough starter in a big mixing bowl (Kitchen Aid if you have one) and add the water, honey and olive oil to the starter. Mix until uniformly soupy (use Kitchen Aid mixing paddle).

Add the flour to the bowl (but not the salt). Mix everything together until the flour is incorporated (still using mixing paddle).

Let it sit covered for 30 minutes so that the flour absorbs all the water.

Sprinkle ⅓ of the salt over the dough and start kneading it. Repeat adding the salt and kneading over the next minute.

Either knead the dough by hand for 8 minutes (it is wet so it is a challenge) or use Kitchen Aid dough hook on speed 2. See note on Kitchen Aid fun.

Once the dough is soft and pliable, form it into a ball. Oil the mixing bowl you started with and place dough in, rough side up. Move the ball of dough around in the bowl so that the smooth portion is coated in oil. Flip it over and cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap. Set aside to ferment for 8 to 12 hours, or overnight

In the morning, slice the dough in half while still in the bowl, being careful not to deflate it too much. Oil a baking sheet generously or line it with parchment paper. Sprinkle the oiled pan or parchment paper generously with flour or a coarse semolina or cornmeal. Flour your hands and scoop out one of the portions of dough. It will be fairly wet and sticky. Shape it roughly into a torpedo loaf, approximately 12″ long, pushing the dough together to make it as high and thin as you can. Place it on one side of the sheet pan. Repeat with the other dough.

Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and allow to proof for 1.5 to 2 hours or until it is puffy. It won’t double in size but should spring up nicely in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap from the loaves, slash as desired with a very sharp knife, and place in hot oven. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate sheet pan, and bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until it makes a hollow sound when the bottom is thumped or it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees.

Move to a cooling rack. Serve warm, torn and dipped in olive oil or spread with butter. Or, cool completely and use for garlic bread or sub sandwiches.

Kitchen Aid Fun: When using Kitchen Aid, I like to raise the head occasionally while it is running and then putting it back down once some of the dough has stretched down into the bowl. Seems to avoid where the dough just spins around in the bowl.

Sour Dough Starter: If you don't have one, I might be able to send you a cup of it from my kitchen. :)

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