Caramelized Onion Sourdough with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Italian Herbs
I have had a number of breads that include onions bookmarked, but never got around to trying them. So this is my attempt at this.
1. Caramelize 3 diced onions in 1 tbsp each of butter and olive oil. Since I quadruple my recipes, this took me 3 hours! Normally, it takes 45 minutes to an hour. Set aside to cool. I prepared mine a few days ahead and put them in the fridge. I let them come back to room temperature before using them.
2. Autolyse 650 g unbleached flour, 50 g freshly milled buckwheat flour, 252 g freshly milled red fife flour, 50 g freshly ground flax seed, 1 tbsp and 1 tsp of dried Italian herbs (the plan was to use 2 tbsp but I didn't have enough), 50 g freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and 700 g of water. I found putting in 600 g of water first, mixing and then adding the last 100 g to work really well in mixing the initial dough. Due to other things interfering, I let the dough autolyse for about 3 and half hours. Wow! I was very surprised at how supple the dough felt after this. I will have to not be afraid of autolysing for longer than a couple of hours.
3. Mix in 30 g plain full fat yogurt, 72 g of caramelized onions (or all that you got from step #1), 20 g salt and 275 g of 80% freshly fed levain. My levain is usually rye and unbleached flour but I have a bag of whole grain Rogers Whole Wheat flour that I need to use up so I am feeding my levain that instead of the rye. I find things are a bit slower but that is okay. I use my levain once it has tripled.
4. Do 3 sets of folds 20-30 minutes apart and leave to double. This took 5.5 to 6 hours. The wholewheat instead of the rye does slow things down. Or it just might be because it is much colder here... who knows. The dough will be ready when it is ready.
5. Divide into 729 g boules, pre-shape, let rest 15 minutes and do a tight final shape. I then put them in bannetons, covered them and then put into the fridge to proof for ~10 hours.
6. The next morning bake as usual in Dutch ovens for 25 minutes at 450F, uncover and then at 425F for 22 minutes.
They smell fabulous! Unfortunately, they are all promised to other people, I even had to give away the loaf that I was saving for us so no crumb shot unless one of my friends sends one to me.