semolina bread

With a salmon fillet left-over from Sunday, semolina bread sounded like a delicious complement to a  mixed green salmon salad.

Yield: 4 small boules
660 calories per boule
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 10 hours to 28 hours, depending on the duration of the starter proof

ingredients

the starter

3/8 cup lukewarm water (this is equivalent to 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons) 

¼ cup water

1¼ cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon yeast

the dough

1¼  warm lukewarm water

1¼  teaspoon yeast

3¾ cups semolina flour

1 teaspoon salt

preparation

The day before: Making the starter

1. Mix together the 3/8 cup lukewarm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Combine the flour, remaining 1/4 cup water and yeast mixture in a medium sized bowl, mixing with a spoon until a loose dough forms. Use your hands to knead the dough into a ball, which will be thick and wet.

3. Place in a well-oiled bowl, cover, and set aside at room temperature. Unless the recipe states otherwise  I like to cover my dough with both plastic wrap and a towel. The starter should proof at least 6 hours, and can be kept at room temperature up to 24 hours.  Here are some tips on starter maintenance.

The day of: Making the dough

4. Mix together the lukewarm water, yeast and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

  

5. In your stand mixer, combine 1/3 cup of the starter, semolina flour, salt, and yeast mixture.  With the dough hook, "stir" the mixture. (See step 3 for recipe ideas for your unused starter.) Because my kitchen is small, I've found labeling my airtight canisters to be very helpful. I ordered custom, vinyl labels from CuttinCrazy on etsy.

6. Slowly increase the speed (to 2 or 3) and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes. The dough is very dry and you may need to adjust the dough during the knead and form into a ball once or twice by by hand to ensure a well-blended and cohesive dough forms. 

 

7. Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic and let rise until dough has doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

8. Roll dough out onto slightly floured surface. Divide into four equal pieces and shape each into a boule, placing on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and covering with plastic to rise until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

9. About 30 minutes into the proof, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

10. After the dough has risen, brush the boules with egg wash, desired topping, and score the boules with a tic-tac-toe pattern.

11.  Arrange a water bath and bake for 25 minutes, until loaves are golden brown.  (See step 9 of “carbs, glorious carbs!” for more information on water baths)

Other modifications:

• Make two large loaves or small rolls instead of boules. 

Original recipe found here.