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Pumpkin and walnut sourdough

Ingredients:

  • 200 gr natural white leaven
  • 200 gr strong white flour
  • 200 gr wholemeal flour
  • 200 gr mashed pumkin
  • 10 gr salt
  • 80-120 gr water
  • 150gr walnuts
  • 1/4 ts of ground cardamom

Preparation:

  1. Peel and dice the pumkin and then cook it in the oven, boiled or steamed. I found it's easier to mash when steamed. Leave to cool.
  2. In a bowl mix the flours with the salt and the cardamom.
  3. Add the natural leaven, the water and the mashed pumpkin and mix well till you have a sticky mass. Tip: don't use all the water at once as depending on the flour you won't need all of it.
  4. Leave to rest for 15 minutes.
  5. Knead for 10-15 seconds on an oiled surface and leave for another 15 minutes.
  6. Knead for 10-15 seconds on an oiled surface and leave for another 15 minutes.
  7. Knead for 10-15 seconds on an oiled surface and leave for another 30 minutes.
  8. Knead for 10-15 seconds on an oiled surface and leave for another 1 hour.
  9. Shape the dough into a ball and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
  10. Flatten the dough and shape it into a rectangle.
  11. Distribute the walnuts across the dough adding presure to stick them to the dough.
  12. Cut the douch in half and put one half on top of the other. Repeat the process several times till you have a stack of dough layers. In this way the walnuts are evenly distributed. Leave to rest 15 minutes.
  13. Shape the dough into a ball and leave to prove for around 2 - 3 hours till it has almost doubled its size. Use a floured proving basket or a linen towel and a bowl.
  14. Pre-heat the oven to 220 C with a metallic or a stone tray at mid height and a metallic tray at the bottom.
  15. Place carefully the dough in a baking sheet and press into the center with a small steel ring or a narrow glass till you get to the bottom, then do 8 cuts from the top to half way bottom with a sharp knife.
  16. Once the oven is ready spray some water on the top of the dough, put some water in the lower tray to create steam and place the dough in the middle tray.
  17. Bake at 220 for 15-20 minutes then remove the lower tray and leave at 180-200 for another 25-30 minutes.
  18. Leave to cool in a rack.

Based on a recipe from Ibán Yarza: Pan sin amasar de calabaza y nueces. This version has been adapted to use natural leaven instead of fresh yeast and to add a part of wholemeal flour instead of only white. The kneadding technique has been extracted from the book The Handmade Loaf by Dan Lepard.