Finally, 2020 has gone. In the hope that 2021 will be better (it’s not really making an effort in these first days, but let’s give it the benefit of the doubt), the BuonoDavvero family has decided to embark on a healthier diet, trying to erase the remnants that panettones and pandoros have left on our hips. We turned to a careful nutritionist, who, to my great joy, is a fan of sourdough. For this reason, I needed a toast bread that was not like the classic loaf breads, with eggs, sugar, and milk, but one that was lighter yet sufficiently soft and fragrant to be toasted. From my experiments, this spelt and semolina sandwich bread with low fats and sourdough was born. If you want to start the year with a ‘healthy’ recipe, here it is!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Day
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 270.24 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 44.39 (g) of which sugars 0.25 (g)
- Proteins 10.21 (g)
- Fat 6.12 (g) of which saturated 0.56 (g)of which unsaturated 4.29 (g)
- Fibers 3.74 (g)
- Sodium 473.00 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for the Spelt Sandwich Bread without Fats
- 4 cups spelt flour
- 1/3 cup re-milled durum wheat semolina flour
- 1 2/3 cups water
- 6 1/3 oz sourdough (refreshed and doubled)
- 1/4 cup sunflower seed oil (or delicate EVO oil)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp barley malt (diastatic powder)
- 1 oz mixed seeds (optional)
Useful Tools for Making Spelt and Semolina Sandwich Bread without Fats
- Stand Mixer Kitchenaid Artisan
- Loaf Pan Zenker 14 inches
- Rolling Pin
- Pastry Board
- Brush
Preparation of the Spelt and Semolina Sandwich Bread Dough without Fats
In the stand mixer, place the broken sourdough and dissolve it with the water using the K-beater at medium speed. If it bubbles, even better!
While the machine is running, gradually add the sifted flours and malt. Once the dough has mixed well, change to the dough hook to knead the dough. You can see perfectly when it happens because it starts to cling to the hook, and the bowl walls become clean.
Once kneaded, slowly add the oil in a stream, ensuring it is well absorbed. Finally, add the salt. It will take about 20/30 minutes: when the dough is soft and elastic, it’s time to take it out of the stand mixer.
Place it in a greased bowl and do three rounds of simple folds at half-hour intervals. Finally, round it up, cover it with plastic wrap, and after resting for an hour, put it in the fridge until the next morning.
The next day, let it acclimate a bit, then roll it out with a rolling pin on a well-semolina-floured pastry board, giving it a rectangular shape with a thickness of half a centimeter. Sprinkle with seeds, roll it up on itself, and then place it in the loaf pan which is also lightly floured. Cover it with a cloth and let it double in the oven with the light on. It will take about 2/3 hours.
When the dough has doubled, turn on the oven to 465°F and wait for it to reach the temperature. In the meantime, brush the surface with water. Those who want can sprinkle the moistened surface with more seeds.
Bake the bread and keep it at that temperature for 20/25 minutes. Then lower it to 390°F to reach about 55/60 minutes in total. For the last 10 minutes, open the oven to create a vent and let all the moisture out
Let it cool on a rack before cutting.
This bread lasts very well for a week if stored in a paper bag, and it’s excellent if toasted and used for breakfast with ricotta and jam or for a nice snack toast. You can vary the flours, for example, using all semolina or semolina and type 1 flour, thus giving a different taste to every breakfast.
Notes
To make this bread (a bit) richer, you can brush with milk instead of water. If you want a real treat, you can try my apple cake or the rustic chocolate chip bread or you could try my Tuscan bread that goes great with jam! Follow me on Instagram to see what I’ll be up to in 2021!
