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South Tyrolean wheat and rye aromatic 'sourdough' rolls

Fair warning - these are not purely sourdough rolls, however they are quick to make and the sourdough is added to give flavour. These are loosely based on the sourdough & yeast based loaves and rolls found in the Austrian/North Italian Tyrol area, flavoured with caraway, fennel, and if you can find it, brotklee or blue fenugreek (not essential but it adds to the aromatic experience with these rolls). Due to the rye, these are a bit dense but really flavourful and go very well with cheese and cold cuts, or just with some butter. They are also delicious when toasted - it can obviously be turned into a loaf if you dont fancy making rolls.Ingredients - makes 4 rolls or 1 small loaf

Ingredients

200ml lukewarm water

100gr active sourdough (there are plenty of resources online on how to make/prepare your own sourdough - I use a rye based sourdough)

3/4 tsp quick acting yeast

125gr strong white bread flour (I favour Shipton Mills' Canadian Strong white flour)

250gr rye flour (Shipton Mills' Organic Light Rye flour works well - Dark rye flour works as well, but will create a denser crumb & stronger flavour or you can do a mix of both)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp brotklee/blue fenugreek*

1/2 tbsp fennel

1/2 tbsp caraway

*Brotklee (German - also known as Schabzigerklee) / blue fenugreek in English - Trigonella caerulea - quite difficult to find in the UK - Amazon sell it, but as it's imported from Germany it's not cheap! Easier to find in Germany, Switzerland, Austria or the South Tyrol area of Italy - it is not crucial to the recipe, but it adds a more 'authentic' dimension to the flavour, especially if you have tried these type of rye breads in Tyrol and want to re-create the flavours.

Method

Prepare the dough in the usual way (mix all the ingredients & knead until you have a smooth dough either by hand or in a stand mixer) - my favourite lazy method is using the pizza dough setting on my breadmaker - this will be a slightly wetter and heavier dough than a normal wheat only dough.

Let the dough rest in a warm pace until almost doubled in size.

Once the dough has doubled in size, cut it into 4 equal parts or shape into a boule if making a loaf.

For rolls - shape the rolls into desired shape (round or elongated)

Arrange the rolls on a baking sheet & allow space between each so that the dough can expand.

If making a loaf, add the boule to a small loaf tin or leave to rest as it is.

Leave to rest until doubled in size

Heat heat the oven to to 200 degrees C / 180 degrees C for fan assisted ovens

Bake for approx 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown - (for a loaf approx 30-40 minutes).