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Panmarino: Rosemary Raisin Bread

This is almost a staple in Tuscany and there are many ways to make this bread.  The key for flavor is a biga, which is a starter.  Bigas tend to be more like a dough as opposed to runnier kinds of starters. Feel free to add sliced almonds or chopped figs or even use chopped lavender leaves in place of the rosemary.  Delicious.

Course Bread
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 11 hours
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 11 hours 35 minutes
Author Dann Reid

Ingredients

Biga

  • 36 g Bread flour
  • 30 g Room temperature water
  • pinch Instant yeast

Final Dough

  • 221 g Bread flour
  • 123 g Water
  • 11 g Dry milk powder
  • 5 g Salt
  • < 1 g Instant yeast
  • 22 g Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 3 g Chopped rosemary
  • 50 g Raisins Optional
  • 1 each Egg
  • All Biga

Instructions

Mix the biga

  1. Place the bread flour and instant yeast in a metal or glass bowl.  Add the water and stir well and vigorously for 100 strokes.  The goal is to make a very well worked starter.  You should see the gluten strands making strings of dough.  Clean off the spoon and add any biga to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature up to 16 hours.

Mix the final dough

  1. Place the biga on a dinner plate and cut into 6 pieces.

  2. Add the water, olive oil, egg, flour, salt, milk powder and instant yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer.  Start to mix the dough on low speed.  When the dough begins to pull together, add the biga, one piece at a time, making sure each starts to incorporate before adding the next.  When all the biga is added, mix for 1 more minute on low speed.

  3. Add the rosemary and raisins, if using, and turn the speed to medium.  Mix for four more minutes.  The dough should start to clean the sides of the bowl.  Depending on hydration of the biga, the dough may stick to the bottom of the bowl.  This is okay.

  4. Remove the dough to an olive oil coated bowl, cover and allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes.  

  5. After 30 minutes, turn the dough over and pull the edges toward the center.  Invert the dough again, allow to ferment an additional 30 minutes.  Turn the over on, set the temperature to 425 degrees.

  6. Remove the dough to a lightly floured counter and shape either for a loaf pan or as a round.  Proof until the dough is soft and a finger tip pressed into the surface leaves a small indent.

  7. Score the bread with a serrated knife.  Place the dough into the oven. 

  8. If you wish, place a pie pan on the bottom of the oven and add 1/4 cup of water to that hot pan for steam. Be sure to close the oven door quickly after you add water to keep the steam in the oven.

  9. Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes or until a thump on the bottom of the loaf has a hollow sound.  Also, a thermometer reading of 180 degrees is the proper temperature for baked bread.

  10. Allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes (I know, Right?  torture!) before slicing.