Sourdough Tomato Bread Recipes

SOURDOUGH STRATA WITH TOMATOES AND GREENS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the tomatoes with the thyme, olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper in a bowl. Spread on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once or twice, until the tomatoes are slightly dried and browned in spots, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes. Cool completely.
• Whisk the milk, eggs, fontina, 3/4 cup parmesan, the cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Add the bread cubes and greens and toss to coat. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish, then top with the roasted tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the strata with the remaining 1/4 cup parmesan and bake, uncovered, until golden brown and almost set, about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, but keep the strata inside 10 minutes before serving.

LAZY SUMMER TOMATO & SOURDOUGH TRAYBAKE

Steps:

• Oil a large brownie tin or roasting tin (about 35 x 25cm). Put the aubergine in a sieve and scatter over ½ tsp salt. Rub the salt all over the aubergine and leave to drain over a bowl or the sink for 30 mins. While they're draining, toss the tomatoes in a bowl with a pinch of salt, the sugar, vinegar and thyme leaves.
• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Wipe away any excess salt and moisture from the aubergine. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat, then add the coriander seeds. When they're sizzling, stir in the aubergine and chilli flakes. Cook, stirring for 15-20 mins, until the aubergine is caramelised and soft in the middle. Tip into the bowl with the tomatoes and add the bread, shallots, and olives. Tip the mixture into a roasting tray and level it out. Drizzle over the rest of the olive oil and bake for 20 mins.
• Whisk the eggs with the ricotta, parmesan and seasoning, then pour over the veg and add the mozzarella, tucking it into the traybake, so it's not all sitting on top. Return to the oven for another 15 mins, until the sourdough is crisp and golden and the cheese is melted. Serve garnished with the watercress in vinaigrette, if you like.

SOURDOUGH TOMATO BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water, set aside.
• In large bowl; mix starter and tomato juice. Add yeast mixture, salt, sugar and stir well.
• Add 1 cup of flour at a time and beat well to develop the gluten. When a stiff dough forms, turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding the last 1 cup of flour as you go.
• Turn into greased bowl and lightly grease top, cover with towel and place in draft free area for 2 hours. Will double in bulk.
• Punch down and divide dough in two, form into rounds and place each on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled generously with cornmeal.
• Let rise 1/2 hour, rub top lightly with flour and slash with sharp knife. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ) for 45-60 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned when checked.
• For a soft crust, cool under a clean dishtowel. For a harder European type crust, cool without.

GRILLED SOURDOUGH BREAD WITH GARDEN TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat gas grill on medium or charcoal grill until coals are ash white.
• Melt butter in 1-quart saucepan until sizzling; stir in shallots and garlic.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until shallots are tender (1 to 2 minutes).
• Place bread slices onto grill. Grill until toasted (4 to 6 minutes).
• Turn; brush each bread slice with butter mixture.
• Sprinkle with basil; top each bread slice with 3 tomato slices.
• Sprinkle each tomato-topped bread slice with 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.
• Continue grilling until bread is lightly browned (2 to 3 minutes).

SOURDOUGH GLASS BREAD (PAN DE CRISTAL)

Steps:

• Autolyse
• Mix the flour and water together in a bowl, cover, and let sit for 1-2 hours.
• Mixing, Gluten Development, and Bulk Fermentation
• Add the sourdough starter, salt, and oil to the dough. Fold the dough over itself and press and stretch the dough to work in these ingredients. Pause if the dough starts to tear.
• Give the dough a few minutes of Rubaud mixing (video above) to strengthen and fully mix it. When the dough is smooth and uniform, cover and let it rest 30 minutes.
• Do four rounds of gluten development such as coil folding, with 30-minute rests in between. During the first round of folding, I transferred my dough to a straight-walled container to track the rise. Stretching and folding or coil folding work nicely on this dough. There is a video link after this recipe if you want to see gluten development techniques on an even wetter dough.
• Let the dough rise until it has expanded by 70-80%. For a warm dough (low 80s), this was about 5 hours after mixing in the sourdough starter. At cooler temps, this may take longer.
• If you'd like to retard the dough i.e. refrigerate it overnight before shaping, do this at about 60% dough expansion, and let the dough warm up again in the morning for about an hour before shaping.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Prep a piece of parchment paper that is about the size of your baking stone or steel (an upside-down baking sheet can be used if you don't have a stone or steel, but beware of temp limits on non-stick sheets).
• Heavily flour your work surface and then gently scrape the dough out onto it.
• Use a bench knife to shove some of the flour under the oozing dough as you stretch the dough into a rectangle that's about 1 inch think. With your hands, lift and maneuver the dough to determine that none of it is stuck to your work surface. If it is, add more flour to your bench knife and work it underneath the dough.
• Heavily flour the top of your dough and then cut it into two long narrow strips.
• Sprinkle flour on the two cut surfaces and ensure they are not sticking to your work surface.
• With a bench knife and a dough scraper (spatula might work too), scoop up both ends of a dough and transfer it to the sheet of parchment paper. The dough will scrunch up but as you lay it down, you can stretch it out again like an accordion. Repeat with the other dough.
• Flour the tops of the doughs again and cover with a tea towel.
• Let proof for about 1 hour or longer if your dough is cool. My dough was in the low 80s.
• Baking
• Set up your oven with a baking stone or steel on the second-to-lowest shelf and a cast iron pan (for steam) on the highest possible shelf, likely the second from the top.
• Preheat this oven setup for about 45 minutes at 500F.
• When the final proof is complete, brush off any excess flour on the doughs, and slide the parchment paper onto a peel or baking sheet with open sides like this one or upside-down baking sheet.
• Boil 1 cup of water and set it near your oven.
• Load the doughs onto your baking stone. Wearing oven mitts to prevent steam burns, pour the boiling water into the cast iron pan and close the oven door.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 500F.
• Lower the oven temperature to 410F and bake for 20 minutes more.
• If you want a darker crust, feel free to bake longer.
• Turn off the oven, crack open the oven door, and leave the bread inside for another 10 minutes. This helps the crust get more crunchy.