Roasted Pumpkin Seed Pesto Bread Recipe

Remember the Roasted Pumpkin Seed Pesto from last week? I saved some of it and put it on sourdough bread – this time with strong sourdough prep.

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• 400 g white wheat flour
• 280 g water (70 % hydration level)
• 190 g Active whole wheat sourdough starter (90% hydration)
• 8 g fine sea salt
• 3 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seed pesto
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seed oil

1. In the morning of the day you will mix the dough, you will prepare the beginning of your dough. Mix 100g of whole wheat flour with 90g of water and a teaspoon of your active dough starter (or straight from the fridge) and leave to ferment until doubled in volume. This is a very strong starter, so its consistency will look more like a dough and you may not see any growth for the first few hours. If you want to speed up the fermentation, put the jar in a warm place.
2. In the late afternoon, dissolve your whole roasted starter in 280g of water. Next, add 400 flour and mix all the ingredients until combined. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour (or at least 30 minutes). Letting your dough rest after mixing is a great option if you don't know how much water your flour absorbs. You can start with less water, let the dough rest and then see if you need to add more water.
3. After 1 hour, add 8 g of salt, roasted pumpkin seed pesto and pumpkin seed oil and then knead the dough for 5 minutes to make it elastic.
4. Let the dough in the bowl rise for 3 hours at room temperature (if it's too cold, you can put the bowl in a slightly warm oven to give the dough a boost to rise properly). Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel to prevent the surface of the dough from drying out.
5. After 3 hours the dough should look very lively, ripe and elastic. You may also see bubbles on the surface of the dough.
6. Using your plastic dough scraper, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Gather the edges of the dough together in the middle, turn the dough over and let it rest for 10-15 minutes so that the final shape is easier after the gluten relaxes.
7. Meanwhile, prepare the growing basket and dust well. I like to line my rising basket with a kitchen towel and dust it with white wheat flour.
8. To shape the loaf, turn it upside down, stretch it slightly with your fingers, and then fold the bottom over the center, the left side over the center, the right side over the center, and the top over the center as well. Transfer the dough to the rising basket with the folding side up. Sprinkle some flour on top and cover with the rest of the kitchen towel. Place the basket in the refrigerator. Let it ferment until the volume of the dough has increased significantly (at least by a third) and when the scratch you make with your finger turns slowly and not all the way (puncture test). If it turns quickly, let it ferment longer.
9. In the morning, my dough is usually ready when I wake up (I've been doing this for years :)). Normally, you would rise and check how the dough responds to the clotting test. If the dough is ready, preheat your oven to maximum oven temperature along with a dutch oven or a baking stone for at least 30 minutes before baking. I used the dutch oven.
10. When the oven is preheated, take the bread out of the proofing basket (tip: take a cutting board and place it on top of the proofing basket and then turn everything upside down) and transfer to the dutch oven. Toast the bread and place the Dutch oven in the oven.
11. Bake the pastry for 20 minutes with the lid on at 240°C/465°F and 20-25 minutes with the lid closed at 230°C/445°F and until the bread is a nice golden colour.
12. Cool on a cooling rack before cutting for at least 1 hour.

endnoteS

• This bread was mixed in the evening, left for 3 hours at room temperature, shaped and then placed in the refrigerator for 11 hours. It is baked the next morning.

• Author: Natasha Krajnc
• Preparation time: 27 hours 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 25 min
• Category: bread

Keywords: pesto sourdough bread

Pesto Sourdough Bread with Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Baking time

This pesto bread is mixed in the evening, left to rise for 3 hours at room temperature, shaped and then refrigerated for 11 hours. It is baked the next morning.

Ingredients

Yields: one large loaf

• 400 g of white wheat flour
• 280 g water (70% hydration level)
• 190 g active starter with durum wheat sourdough (90% hydration)
• 8 g fine sea salt
• 3 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seed pesto
• 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seed oil

Pesto Bread Instructions

• In the morning of the day you will mix the dough, you will prepare the beginning of your dough. Mix 100g of whole wheat flour with 90g of water and a teaspoon of your active dough starter (or straight from the fridge) and leave to ferment until doubled in volume. This is a very strong starter, so its consistency will look more like a dough and you may not see any growth for the first few hours. If you want to speed up the fermentation, put the jar in a warm place.
• In the late afternoon, dissolve your whole roasted starter in 280g of water. Next, add 400 flour and mix all the ingredients until combined. Cover the bowl with the kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 1 hour (or at least 30 minutes). Letting your dough rest after mixing is a great option if you don't know how much water your flour absorbs. You can start with less water, let the dough rest and then see if you need to add more water.

• After 1 hour, add 8 g of salt, roasted pumpkin seed pesto and pumpkin seed oil and then knead the dough for 5 minutes to make it elastic.
• Let the dough in the bowl rise for 3 hours at room temperature (if it's too cold, you can put the bowl in a slightly warm oven to give the dough a boost to rise properly). Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel to prevent the surface of the dough from drying out.
• After 3 hours the dough should look very lively, ripe and elastic. You may also see bubbles on the surface of the dough.
• Using your plastic dough scraper, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Gather the edges of the dough together in the middle, turn the dough upside down and let it rest for 10-15 minutes so that the final shape is easier after the gluten relaxes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the growing basket and dust well. I like to line my rising basket with a kitchen towel and dust it with white wheat flour.
• To shape the loaf, turn it upside down, stretch it slightly with your fingers, and then fold the bottom over the center, the left side over the center, the right side over the center, and the top over the center as well.
• Transfer the dough to the rising basket with the folding side up. Sprinkle some flour on top and cover with the rest of the kitchen towel. Place the basket in the refrigerator. Let it ferment until the volume of the dough has increased significantly (at least by a third) and when the scratch you make with your finger turns slowly and not all the way (puncture test). If it turns quickly, let it ferment longer.

• In the morning, my dough is usually ready when I wake up (I've perfected this for years :)). Normally, you would rise and check how the dough responds to the clotting test. If the dough is ready, heat your oven to maximum oven temperature along with Dutch oven or a baking stone for at least 30 minutes before baking. I used a dutch oven.
• When the oven is preheated, take the bread out of the rising basket (counsel: take a cutting board and place it on top of the rising basket and then turn everything upside down) and transfer to the dutch oven. Mark the bread and place the dutch oven in the oven.
• Bake the bread for 20 minutes with the lid on at 240°C/465°F and 20-25 minutes with the lid closed at 230°C/445°F and until the pesto bread is a nice golden colour.
• Cool your pesto bread on a cooling rack before slicing for at least 1 hour.

You can also use pumpkin in sour dough pumpkin rollsand flour in sour wheat bread.

What inspires you to bake sourdough bread? Have you tried making this pesto bread recipe using pumpkin seeds or other seeds? What are some of your delicious pesto bread recipes?

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