Sundried Tomato Sourdough

Ok.. Back to baking!

I've been rather un-creative of late and just stuck to the plain ol' sourdough. Nothing wrong with that though, sometimes it's the simple things that matter. Anyway I found myself looking at this bottle of sun-dried tomatoes I bought a couple of months ago and decided to give it a try with my sourdough.

So.. after refreshing the sourdough and making sure it's all bubbly and rising... let's gather the ingredients.

50g sourdough starter
150g flour
100ml water
a pinch of salt

2-3 pieces of sundried tomato, cut into small bits
1 teaspoon of thyme / oregano
some oil from sundried tomato bottle (I scoop some out and set aside for use to prevent contamination, mess... etc.)

And we're ready to go..

1. Mix the sourdough starter, flour, and salt. Pour in the water gradually and mix. I start with about 60-80 ml of the water (just approximately).

2. Once the dough starts coming together, add about 2-3 tablespoons of the oil and knead until the dough is smooth (around 10 minutes).

3. Then add in the sundried tomatoes and herbs, and knead until the dough is homogeneous, or the tomatoes are evenly spread out.

4. Leave to proof at room temperature for about 4-5 hours, until the dough has doubled in size.

5. Turn the proofed dough out and fold it side-to-side and top-to-bottom a few times. Then leave to proof for 2-3 hours.

6. I love things to be convenient, so for the second proof, I lined a clean bowl with baking paper and put the dough inside. When it is ready for baking, I just have to lift the baking paper and transfer the baking paper plus dough to the tray.

7. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and bake for 30-35 minutes.

8. Leave the bread on a rack to cool completely before cutting/slicing and storing.

9. I also tried a second batch with dried chilli flakes and almond bits, to have a bit more texture and kick. Yum!