Spiced Pumpkin, Cheddar & Roasted Garlic Sourdough

Instructions

1. Before starting this recipe there are a few bits to prepared in advance. The levain, the roasted garlic and spiced pumpkin
2. *To prepare the levain. (This should be done 8 to 10 hours prior to making your dough.) Combine 50g of sourdough starter (rye or white starter may be used) with 50g of strong white flour (use rye flour for a rye starter) and 50g water, stir everything together and leave covered at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours prior to starting to make the dough.
3. **This recipe calls for a half bulb of garlic. The roasted garlic can be prepared by simply roasting the garlic in its skins at 165°C for about 30 minutes. The garlic is ready when it feels soft when pinched. Leave to cool before removing the cloves of garlic from the skins, the easiest way it to snip off the top of the bulb and then squeeze the cloves out from the bottom of the bulb. The garlic can be left to one side mixed with a little olive oil until required.
4. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Toss together the pumpkin, olive oil and spices then spread onto a roasting tray and roast for 30 minutes. Set aside to cool. This can be prepared the day before if you wish. This should give you approx 200g of spiced roast pumpkin.
5. This dough will be built in stages

6. Stage 1

7. Add the levain & water to the flour. Combine everything together until fully combined. Leave to autolyse for 30mins (simply leave the dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes)

8. Stage 2

9. After 30 minutes of autolyse, purée the garlic into a paste using the back of a knife and then add the garlic paste and salt to the dough. Start kneading the dough for 4 to 5 mins. The dough will be wet and sticky but that is ok, do not add any additional flour. This kneading can be done within the bowl so no need to turn the dough out onto the counter. The dough should be kneaded until the window pane affect is achieved.
10. Transfer the dough to a clean oiled bowl. We will now leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes. You can cover the bowl with a clean tea towel.

11. Stage 3

12. Stretch and fold. Every 30 minutes we want to build strengthen our dough by simply stretching and folding. We will do this 3 times with 30-minute breaks between each fold. This is also the perfect time to incorporate the spiced pumpkin and grated cheddar. When the dough is stretched out, spread 1/3 of the pumpkin and grated cheddar over the dough. Fold over the dough to encase the pumpkin and cheddar. This process will be repeated 2 more times. After the third stretch and fold simply leave the dough to prove for a final 30 minutes before shaping.

13. Stage 4

14. Turn out onto a floured work surface. Without knocking too much air from the dough gently preshape. Let the dough rest on the counter for ten to twenty minutes.
15. This quantity of dough will make 1x 900g sourdough loaf.
16. Whether you are using a proving basket, Pyrex dish or simply proving in a bowl lined with a tea towel, it should be prepared by dusting with flour. Rye flour or rice flour works well for this.
17. Mould the dough into a round shape, dust the surface of the dough with flour and place into your proving basket seem side facing up. Leave the shaped dough to prove for 20 mins at room temperature before placing into the fridge to prove overnight.
18. The next day remove the dough from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 240°C with an empty tray placed into the base of the oven (the tray is not needed if you will be baking in a Dutch oven)
19. Turn the dough out from the proving basket onto a baking tray or the lid of a Pyrex casserole dish, or into a Dutch oven. Rub some flour over the surface of the dough and score. If baking using a Pyrex dish or Dutch oven, place the lid or dome over the dough and bake.
20. Bake for about 30 minutes, pouring a boiled kettle of water in the preheated tray at the bottom of the oven for a blast of steam as soon as the dough has been put in the oven. If baking in a Dutch oven, bake for 25 minutes with the lid on and a further 12 to 15 minutes with the lid off.
21. If you would like to give the final loaf an extra cheesy crust, cover the surface of the loaf with grated cheese and return to the oven for the final 10-12 minutes of baking.

• Recipe Type : Halloween, Bread, Patrick Ryan, A-Z