Asiago Sourdough Bread

Course: Breads, dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: European

Keyword: bread, cheese, sourdough

Prep Time: 35

Cook Time: 40

Feeding the Starter and Proofing the Dough: 14 15

Total Time: 15 30

Servings: slices (2 1-pound loaves)

Calories: 137kcal

Author: Marta Rivera

Asiago Sourdough Bread is a homemade bread flecked with nutty, creamy shreds of Asiago cheese, baked until crisp outside and fluffy inside.

Prep time includes feeding the starter and two proofing times.

Print Recipe

Equipment

stand mixer with a dough hook
bannetons or a dutch oven
lame or a razor blade

Ingredients

For the Sourdough Sponge (Begin At Least 12 Hours Ahead)

1/2 cup (125 grams) sourdough starter at room temperature
1/2 cup (65 grams) bread flour
3/4 cup (180 milliliters) warm water (110°F or 40°C)

For the Asiago Sourdough Bread

2 1/4 teaspoons (7 grams) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon (5 grams) granulated sugar or honey
1 1/2 cups (375 milliliters) warm water (110°F or 40°C), separated
sourdough sponge
5 cups (660 grams) bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (11 grams) kosher salt or to taste
5 1/2 ounces (2 cups or 160 grams) asiago cheese shredded

Instructions

Feed the Sourdough Starter (At Least 12 Hours Ahead)

Whisk together the sourdough starter, bread flour, and warm water in a large bowl, preferably a clear bowl.
As the starter feeds on the flour mixture, it bubbles and rises, which is the sign you need to know it's active. If you don't see any movement in the jar after an hour, your starter is dead, and you'll need to start with a live starter.

Bloom the Yeast

Add 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) of the warm water from the recipe to a small bowl with the yeast and sugar.
Stir these until combined and allow the yeast to bloom for 5-10 minutes.
Check the mixture after 5 minutes. It should look foamy and smell like beer or bread.
If there's no movement or aroma, the yeast is dead, and you'll need to grab a new jar or packet and start again.

Mix the Sourdough (Stand Mixer)

Stir the sourdough starter to mix the hooch (or liquid on top) into the rest of the mixture and add the sourdough starter, the yeast mixture, and the bread flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.
Add the remaining warm water and, lastly, the kosher salt to the bowl.
Begin kneading the mixture together at 2nd speed on the mixer.
Once the mixture forms a thick batter, increase the mixing speed to 4 or medium speed.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes until a smooth dough forms. You might notice the dough sticking to the bottom of the bowl, this is fine.
After 10 minutes of kneading, lightly grease your hands with olive or vegetable oil and remove the dough from the bowl with a lightly greased, flexible bench scraper.

Allow the Dough To Rise

Grease the bowl inside with a small amount of oil and return the dough to the bowl.
Turn the dough over so the surface is coated in a thin layer of oil.
Cover the mixing bowl with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area of the kitchen. Allow the asiago sourdough to rise for 1 hour, undisturbed.

Punch Down, Rest, Then Shape the Dough For A Second Rise

After the rise time has elapsed, push down the dough to dispel the gases that have built up in it.
Remove the dough from the bowl and rest it for 15 minutes on a lightly floured surface under the inverted bowl.
While the dough is resting, dust 2 bannetons with bread flour.
If you don't have bannetons, line a dutch oven with two 3-inch strips of parchment paper crossed in the center of the pot.
Use your hands to flatten the dough into a crude oval shape about 1/2-inch thick.
Sprinkle a handful of the shredded asiago cheese onto the surface of the dough.
Fold the dough over to encase the cheese and flatten it out again.
Sprinkle another handful of the cheese, fold over the dough, and flatten it out.
Continue adding the asiago cheese shreds until it's all folded into the dough.
Use the bench scraper to cut the dough into two equal halves.
Form the dough into two dough balls or a ball and a football-shaped loaf.
Carefully place the shaped balls of dough into the floured bannetons.
Cover both with a clean kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place in the kitchen.

Bake the Asiago Sourdough Bread

While waiting for the dough to rise, heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Fill a shallow baking dish with warm water and slide it onto the bottom rack of the oven.
Sprinkle the surface of the risen dough with a generous amount of bread flour and turn them over onto the bottom of an inverted sheetpan.
You can also use a baking stone; however you'll need to preheat it with the oven and carefully transfer the bread dough to it.
Use a bread lame or a clean razor blade to make a 2-inch-deep slash in the surfaces of the bread dough.
Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes carefully removing the pan of water from the oven after 10 minutes of baking.
Remove the bread from the oven once it's golden brown and sounds hollow when you thump it.

Cool the Bread Before Enjoying

Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing it.
You can serve asiago sourdough bread toasted with butter or cream cheese or as the base for a sandwich.
Reheat leftover asiago sourdough by toasting it in the toaster, air fryer, or oven.

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

Omit the sourdough sponge to make regular Asiago Bread.
Add 1 teaspoon (2 grams) granulated garlic with the bread flour to the stand mixer to make Garlic Asiago Sourdough Bread.
Add 1 teaspoon (1 gram) of Italian Herb Blend with the bread flour to the stand mixer to make Italian Herb Asiago Sourdough Bread.
Replace the asiago in this recipe with Parmesan, Romano, or white cheddar cheese.

To Mix the Dough By Hand:

Bloom the yeast as instructed and add it to a large mixing bowl with the sourdough starter and the bread flour.
Stir these together with your hand while adding the the remaining warm water and the kosher salt.
Once a thick dough forms, turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand.
Proceed with the recipe as instructed.

Tips and Techniques:

Feeding the starter for 12-24 hours develops more yeast, which will flavor the bread and give it more lift. You can decrease this time to just 2 hours, but you'll sacrifice some of the flavor.
Adding the kosher salt last ensures it doesn't come into contact with the yeast, which it will kill.
Most mixers recommend only mixing on 2nd speed, but the gluten strands develop best at speed 4.
You can add an additional 1/2 cup of bread flour if you think your dough is sticking or too loose, but I recommend kneading for 10 minutes and allowing your dough to be more hydrated than dry.
You don't bake in a banneton; instead, only use it to proof the shaped bread dough.
Slashing the dough before baking prevents it from bursting in the oven as it bakes and creates a pretty design on the surface of the dough.
Creating steam in the oven coagulates the starch on the surface of the bread dough and creates that characteristic crisp crust.
Cutting the bread without cooling it will leave you with gooey dough instead of a pillowy interior.

Storage Instructions:

Store leftover asiago sourdough in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. I leave the bread loaf whole instead of slicing it to keep it as fresh-tasting as possible.

Freezing Instructions:

To freeze unbaked Asiago Sourdough:
1. After punching down and resting the dough, place the balls into an oiled gallon-size freezer storage bag.
2. Freeze the dough for 2 months.
3. Remove one or both of the dough balls from the bag and let them thaw in the fridge overnight.
4. After thawing, allow them to rise a second time for 1 1/2 hours to account for their colder temperature.
To freeze baked Asiago Sourdough Bread:
1. Cool the baked loaves completely and wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap.
2. Put the wrapped loaf (or loaves) into a plastic freezer bag or wrap it in a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 2 months.
3. Thaw frozen asiago sourdough at room temperature before enjoying it.

Nutrition