Sundried Tomato, Pine Nut, and Basil Sourdough (Patrick Ryan - ilovecookingireland)

Early on in my baking adventures when looking for a 100% rye sourdough I stumbled across Patrick Ryan and his videos on the ilovecookingireland youtube channel. I was pleasantly surprised when when this more recent video came across my feed and though this would be a perfect way to use some of the fresh basil from the back garden. 

After watching this I decided I would tweak it a little bit. Instead of cheese I would add roasted garlic and would for sure use pine nuts. I'm sure the cheese is amazing and would be well worth doing, but some family members can't eat cheese so it had to go. 

FULL RECIPE AND CALCULATIONS HERE

A few small notes. While I remembered to roast the garlic the night before...I actually forgot to include it in the bread! However, I think this was the right choice. The bread with just the basil, roasted pine nuts, and sun-dried tomatoes is amazing! For dinner we decided to make pizza toast and I used the forgotten garlic as a spread on the toast instead. Sublime!

Tasting Notes: Wow! The pine nuts, basil, and sunderied tomatoes all shine. the bread all by itself was super tasty. so much so that my first thought was that I would bake a loaf of this...cut it up...and then take it on a long plane flight. Doesn't need any toppings, spreads, or anything else. I could easily cut up the whole thing and eat it in one sitting with no regrets.  

Time/Effort: 3 days (Growing Levain, Mixing Dough, Baking) Normal for sourdough for my process. Maybe an hour or so of extra time spent the night before to roast the garlic and pine nuts, but honestly, worth the time. 

Would I make it again: Yes, and especially for use for making pizza in the summer. The pizza toast above was probably the most delicious pizza I have had in recent years, literally. I've made pizza and have a pretty good recipe and results but this was spectacular. The crust has a nice crunch and the crumb is soft and chewy. I would omit the the garlic from the bread itself as I accidentally did this time (a happy accident) but still roast it to use as a spread later. The great thing about using this bread for making pizza in summer is a quick blast under the broiler and its done, no need to run the oven for hours and pump more heat into the house.