This hearty roasted garlic and parmesan sourdough loaf is perfect for sandwiches, toasted with butter or served as a side dish with lunch or dinner. The parmesan makes the crust extra crispy, similar to a grilled cheese sandwich.
For this loaf, I modified my basic sourdough recipe to include garlic cloves from three heads of garlic and parmesan cheese. Other possible ideas for cheese substitutes instead of parmesan are cheddar, pecorino, or Dubliner cheeses. If you really love garlic, you could try adding even more than three heads of garlic. However, the dough can be difficult to handle with so many garlic pieces, so you will need to be very gentle.
The dough for this loaf was in the refrigerator for a long time compared to most sourdough recipes. This slow, cold fermentation helps build a tangy sour flavor. I prefer utilizing my refrigerator during the sourdough making process because I find it better for time management. If you would like, you could do this whole recipe at room temperature, although the final flavor will likely not be as sour.
Recommended Equipment:
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- Dutch oven: helps capture steam during baking for great oven spring in your loaf. This Cuisinart Dutch oven is one of my favorite Dutch ovens. This is my secret for obtaining tall loaves.
- Dough scraper (optional): Useful for handling and shaping the dough
- large mixing bowl or container: I like containers with a cover like these.
- kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients
- banneton (optional)
- rice flour to prevent sticking (optional). Regular flour will work too, but not quite as well.
I hope you enjoy this roasted garlic and parmesan sourdough!
Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Sourdough
A hearty sourdough loaf with roasted garlic and parmesan cheese. The parmesan makes the crust extra crispy, similar to a grilled cheese sandwich. This loaf is perfect served on its own, topped with butter, or as a sandwich.
Servings 8 people
Equipment
- Dutch oven
- dough scraper
- Large mixing bowl or container
- kitchen scale
- banneton (optional)
- rice flour (optional)
Ingredients
Leaven (Levain) Ingredients
- 85 g sourdough starter (active) Feed it and let it double or triple in volume before using it
- 260 g water
- 70 g whole wheat flour
- 177 g bread flour I used Central Milling's Artisan Baker's Craft Plus
Dough Ingredients
- leaven (from above)
- 305 g bread flour
- 140 g water
- 7 g salt
- 3 heads garlic, peeled You could roast the whole garlic heads then peel after roasting, but I peeled them before roasting
- 50 g parmesan cheese (shaved or grated)
- olive oil for roasting garlic
- salt and pepper for roasting garlic
Instructions
Mix the leaven (levain)
- In a large mixing bowl or container, mix all of the ingredients for the leaven (starter, water, whole wheat flour, bread flour). Mix gently until thoroughly combined and cover.
- Rest the leaven at room temperature for about 6-12 hours until doubled or tripled in volume and very bubbly. My leaven took about 8-9 hours to become very bubbly at 75 °F.
Mix the dough
- After the leaven is very bubbly, add the water (140 g) and bread flour (305 g). Mix by hand until combined. Cover and let the dough rest for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, add the 7 g salt to the dough. Mix gently until combined. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes.
- Then, stretch and fold the dough by gently lifting up the dough from the sides of the container and folding it inward toward the middle. I usually lift up one side of the dough, fold it inward and then rotate the container, repeating the folding until all of the edges of the dough have been folded toward the middle. The dough will look like a loose ball after this stretching and folding. Cover, and let the dough rest for another 45 minutes.
- Then, repeat the stretching and folding one more time. Cover and put the dough in the refrigerator for about 24-48 hours. My dough was in the refrigerator for 34 hours. My refrigerator temperature is 36-40 °F depending on the location inside the refrigerator.
- After refrigerating the dough for 24-48 hours, take it out and let it warm up to room temperature. After about an hour since removing it from the refrigerator, stretch and fold the dough. Cover, and let rest for about another hour and a half, then stretch and fold the dough again. Then, cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes. Then stretch and fold the dough one more time. (3 total times stretching and folding after removing it from the refrigerator)
- In the meantime, roast the garlic by peeling it, wrapping it in foil and drizziling with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for about 30-45 minutes at 400 °F or until golden to your preferences.
Shape the dough and add garlic and parmesan
- After the dough is room temperature or close to room temperature (about 3.5 hours after removing it from the refrigerator), remove the dough from the container or bowl onto a clean counter. With damp hands and a dough scraper, stretch the dough out to a rectangular shape (it doesn't need to be perfect). I have a demonstration on Instagram if you need guidance. Then, spread out the roasted garlic and parmesan over the top of the dough rectangle.
- Then, fold over the edges of the dough rectangle toward the middle, to capture the garlic and parmesan inside the dough. Gently flip over this dough packet, and shape carefully into a ball. It is okay if the shape is not perfect or if some of the garlic or parmesan escapes. Just gently shape it back into the dough. Let the shaped dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, transfer the shaped dough to a floured banneton or mixing bowl. The "seam" of your loaf will be facing up, so the loaf will be upside down. I usually line the banneton or bowl with a kitchen towel, dust the towel with rice flour to prevent sticking, then place the dough into the banneton with the dough seam up. Then, dust with more rice flour and cover with the kitchen towel.
- Then, transfer the shaped loaf to the refrigerator in the banneton or bowl and refrigerate for about 18-20 hours.
Bake the loaf
- Preheat your oven and Dutch oven to 500 °F for at least 20 – 30 minutes.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove your loaf from the banneton or bowl and score the top with a slash using either a sharp knife or lame.
- Then, cover the bottom of the Dutch oven with parchment paper, transfer the loaf gently to the Dutch oven and cover. Bake for 25 minutes at 500 °F.
- After 25 minutes, remove the cover from the Dutch oven and decrease the oven temperature to 450 °F. Bake the loaf for 20-45 more minutes until golden brown (check on it every 10-15 minutes).
- Remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a wire rack for a least a few hours before slicing.
Calories per serving 270 kcal
Notes
Calories are approximate and may not be accurate.
Tried this recipe?Mention @siamesesourdough on Instagram!
What size Cuisinart do you use for an average yield recipe like this? (5-6-7 quart?) Thanks in advance!
Hi Sarah,
I have the 3 qt Cuisinart round enameled dutch oven. Actually I have two of the same size because I loved my first one so much 🙂 The size just perfectly fits the loaf. I think the 5 qt might also work well – I’ve heard that is a popular size! Hope that helps!
Anna
Good day, I have a question, my question is, what can I used instead of dutch oven?
Hi, good question! I’ve seen people have great results with setups like in this video from Full Proof Baking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1YHfldTtQ. If the link doesn’t work, search “Method to bake bread in home oven” by Full Proof Baking on Youtube. I haven’t tried this myself, but it seems to be a popular method for a lot of sourdough bakers.
I’ve also seen people bake their sourdough in a regular large pot (please make sure it is oven safe first).
So can i make this bread using the usual sourdough method and bake it the next day?
Hi Joanne,
Yes, it should work just fine!
Anna
i tried this recipie and the dough was so wet. You said to use the leaven from above but you did not mention how much. So i think to use all the leaven is too much and makes it so watery. I think you should adjust the water hydration in the recipie and tell us exactly how much leaven to use.
Hi Joanne,
Sorry to hear the dough was too wet for you. The hydration of this dough is relatively low around 74%, but how much water the dough can handle really depends on the specific flour you use. Even different batches of the same brand and type of flour can handle water differently. If your dough is far too wet, I suggest decreasing the hydration by 5%. A useful way to check how much water your flour can handle is the “Flour Stress Test” by Kristen of FullProofBaking (on Instagram and Youtube). Also, sourdough dough is generally much wetter than regular yeast bread dough. As for the levain, I use the whole amount in the recipe in my dough; therefore, I didn’t specify to only use a portion of it.
Best luck baking,
Anna