I am a big fan of sun dried tomatoes! That's why this perfect Italian match - tomatoes and cheese - appeared in my new bread. A lot depends on tomatoes that you use, some of them are really not tasty, they can be too sour or too plain in taste. That's why I'd advise you to find a jar with salty and sweet tomatoes, that have just a hint of sourness.
I also saw some bakers adding parmesan cheese to their bread, but I like more Kaasaggio cheese, it has more sweetness and in general more intense taste. So here is the recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
🔹350 g of bread flour (King Arthur organic)
🔹73% hydration (255 g of water: you should decide by your flour how much water to add, the consistency is not very liquid)
🔹70 g of an active sourdough starter
🔹7 g of salt
🔹 12 g of soft butter
🔹 1 handful of chopped sun dried tomatoes
🔹 2 handfuls of grated Kaasaggio cheese
DOUGH HANDLING:
⏰ 1 h of autolyse in the fridge (just water+flour), then add starter and mix for 3 min in a stand mixer at a low speed - 30 min rest
⏰ then we add salt and mix the dough for 10 min more at 1-2 speed in a stand mixer until the dough is smooth and strong. If you knead it by hands, the total time of kneading is 20 min. Then we add soft butter and mix during 2 min more. Now the dough is ready. Put a small piece of the dough to a spy glass.
⏱ 7 hours of a total bulk fermentation at 25 °C (76 °F ): lamination 1h after mixing (added chopped tomatoes and grated cheese to the dough during this stage), then 2 coil folds every 1 hour. The dough had the rise of 90% in a spy glass before shaping.
90% growth is ok for my flour and hydration, cause it's quite strong and the gluten was nicely developed. If your flour is weaker or the dough is more liquid, you can start shaping it at a 60-70% growth rate.
No preshape, shaped as a batard, a short warm retard in a proofing basket (the dough is covered with plastic wrap) for 10 min on the counter.
❄️ + 12 hours of a cold retard in the fridge at 3-4°C (38 F°).
Baked on a baking stone (20 min with steam at 450° F (230° С), 10 min - 420° F (215° С), 10 min - 390° F (200° С).
And here it is, full of tastes and aromas! I hope you will enjoy it!
All tools I use for baking you can find here.
