Whole Wheat Pugliese
I forgot about the biga! I was all set to make rye bread, I had dragged out the rye flour and molasses when Kristin said to me, “What about the dough in the fridge?” The dough in the fridge? What dough in the fridge? I went to check, and, lo and behold, there sat the biga in its little bowl, covered and waiting. Was it too late? I thought back to when I had made it– exactly three days ago! It was still good! So I weighed it, and then I flipped through some of my books to see what I could make with it.
The recipe that stuck out to me was Peter Reinhart’s Pugliese from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I had exactly the right amount of biga remaining to use in this recipe. Plus, I’d been wanting to try working with some wetter dough, just to get my hands dirty. So, Pugliese it was.
A Pugliese bread is typically made with some part durum flour, but since neither I nor the local market had any of it, I decided I would experiment. In my cupboard sat some whole wheat flour that was going to go bad soon (you shouldn’t keep whole wheat flour around for much longer than a few months, or else it will start to acquire a bitter taste), so I figured, “What’s the harm? I’ll throw some of this in instead.”
What I’ve created, I’m sure, is not a traditional pugliese by any means. In fact, I almost don’t want to call it pugliese, but I’m not sure what else I’d call it– I suppose it’s just a whole wheat rustic loaf– but for the sake of simplicity and because the original recipe was for pugliese, I figured I’d just use that name. It doesn’t have a lot of meaning here in America anyways, as it seems that any rustic Italian bread can be dubbed pugliese.
Anyways, nomenclature aside, the bread that came out of my oven tastes delicious! It has a wonderfully light texture, and it is wonderful to eat with just butter or a slice of cheese on top. This would make a great table bread for a fancy Italian dinner, or, heck, just for spaghetti night. And the whole wheat flour gives it an added nutritional value that is always a plus.
Whole Wheat Pugliese (adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice)
Ingredients
10.8 ounces biga
4 ounces whole wheat flour
6 ounces bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 ounces mashed potatoes
8 to 9 ounces water, lukewarm
Preparation:
1. Remove the biga from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or a serrated knife. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.
2. Stir together the flour, salt, and yeast in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the biga pieces, mashed potatoes and 1 cup of water. Using a large metal spoon (or on low speed with the paddle attachment), mix until the ingredients form a wet, sticky ball. If there is still some loose flour, add the additional water as needed and continue to mix.
3. If you are mixing by hand, repeatedly dip one of your hands or the metal spoon into cold water and use it, much like a dough hook, to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand. Reverse the circular motion a few times to develop the gluten further. Do this for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are evenly distributed. If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes, or for as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is still very sticky against the sides of the bowl, sprinkle in a little more flour (either type) until it clears the sides. Don’t be alarmed if the dough seems very sticky. The wetter it is, the better the final bread will be.
4. Sprinkle enough bread flour on the counter to make a bed about 8 inches square. Using a scraper or spatula dipped in water, transfer the dough to the bed of flour. Sprinkle flour liberally on the top of the dough, patting it into a rectangle. One end at a time, stretch the dough to twice it’s length, folding it back over itself to return it to a rectangle shape. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil, again dust with flour, and loosely cover with plastic wrap or a food grade plastic bag.
5. Let rest for 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold method and again mist with spray oil, dust with flour, and cover. (Each time you repeat this process, the dough will become stronger, more elastic, and less sticky.)
6. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. For the third time, repeat the stretch and fold technique. With a spatula dipped in water, transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment the dough at room temperature for 2 hours, undisturbed.
7. Generously dust the counter with flour. Remove the plastic wrap and, with hands and a bowl scraper dipped in flour, transfer the dough to the counter, taking care not to degas the dough any more than necessary. With a metal pastry scraper that has been dipped into flour, or a serrated knife dusted with flour, divide the dough into two pieces. Again dipping your hands into flour, gently shape the dough pieces into 2 boules. Let them relax, seam-side down, on the counter for a few minutes while you prepare the proofing bowls.
8. Prepare 2 proofing bowls by lining then with cloth, making sure to coat with spray oil and generously dust the entire surface of the cloth with flour. Gently transfer the dough, seam side up, into each of the bowls. If the seam opens up, pinch it closed. Mist the top of the dough with spray oil and cover the bowls with the flaps of the cloth.
9. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough has expanded to about 1 1/2 times its original size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Be sure to have an empty steam pan in place and your baking stone, should you have one.
10. Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal, and gently transfer the dough to the peel or pan by carefully turning each bowl over onto the peel, lifting off each bowl, and then carefully peeling off the cloth. The dough will spread out on the peel or pan. With a sharp razor blade or French lame, score the loaves with a pound (#) sign. Transfer the dough to the baking stone (or bake on the sheet pan). Place about 1/2 cup of ice into the empty steam pan. Let the bread bake for 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 450. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate 180 degrees if necessary for even baking. Bake for an addition 5 to 15 minutes, or until the breads are a deep, golden brown and register about 205 degrees F in the center.
11. Remove the loaves from the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. The crusts will soften somewhat as they cool. Allow the loaves to cool for at least 40 minutes before slicing or serving.
