Braided sage and pecorino sourdough bread, the perfect marriage

3 August 2021

I was looking for something new and a bit richer and more scrumptious than plain bread.

So first of all I choose to mix Khorasan flour with strong white bread flour, just to have the benefit of the nutty taste of Kamut flour, which also gives the dough a final softer texture. So the result could be sort of “panfocaccia”.

And after that I was looking for some gorgeous touch… so I looked out of the window….
My pot of sage lies there in the sun, enjoying the clear and windy days above the glittering sea, listening to the slow, steady rhythm of the waves…. well, maybe I went too far down this road.
Let’s say my sage pot stays on my terrace, with the good company of thyme, basil, chive, and marjoram….
What better opportunity to use it in a hearty sourdough recipe?

And…. thinking about the perfect marriage, gorgeous and tasty, “pecorino romano” hit my brain.

So was the genesis of this sourdough sage and pecorino cheese braid.

Here is what you need:
300 gr strong bread flour [60%]
200 gr Khorasan flour [40%]
100 gr liquid sourdough starter [20%]
300 gr water [60%]
10 gr salt [2%]
A handful of chopped sage
A handful of grated pecorino romano

How to do:

Feed your sourdough starter and allow it to become fully active and ready to use.
In a large bowl add water and flour and mix until incorporated. Cover and rest for 30-60 minutes, in order to hydrate the flour.
Add the sourdough starter into the bowl and mix until it is completely incorporated. This version of mine was hand kneaded but of course you can use your kitchen mixer.
At this point add salt and knead in the bowl for 2-3 minutes until fully incorporated.
Cover with a kitchen towel and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, reach into the bowl and grab the top of the dough. Pull it up and into the center. Turn the bowl one quarter and repeat. Continue to turn the bowl one quarter and perform the stretching and folding method 4 times. Repeat these folds every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours.
Let it rest for about 2 hours more.
Cover the bowl and put it to rest in the refrigerator overnight, roughly 12-18 hours (you can leave it up to 24 hours).
Next morning take the dough out of the refrigerator, sprinkle your work surface with a little flour and directly dump the dough out on it. Gently press it to a rectangular shape and after this, you can perform laminating.
Laminating is done by stretching your dough on your counter to open it to a big rectangle, sprinkle the chopped sage and the grated pecorino.
Roll up the rectangle like a roulade, starting from the long side. At this point the dough is a bit sticky but you can help yourself by using wet hands.
Using a serrated knife, cut the roll in half lengthwise, starting at the top.
With the cut sides facing up, gently press together one end of each half, then lift the right half over the left half. Repeat this process, but this time lifting the left half over the right, to create a simple twist. Gently squeeze together the other ends so that you are left with the two halves, intertwined, showing the filling on top.
Generously pour 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a loaf pan and lift the dough into it.
Depending on which temperature you have in your kitchen proofing time could change. In summer I usually have 29 degrees in my kitchen so it takes about 1 hour but in other seasons I could leave it to rise in my Brod & Taylor Folding Proofer at 25 degrees for about 2 hours.
In the meantime preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Place the pan in your preheated oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven.
What should I tell you? I tried to let it cool on a rack, as I usually do with all my leavened batches…. but I couldn’t, I am human!

My advice anyway is to taste this beauty while it’s still warm and let yourself be seduced by it.

The texture of the crumb is very soft and wet, because of the cheese which melts inside of the dough keeping it moist, but the crust is wonderfully crunchy and savory. So… hope you will enjoy it!