French Rye Bread Mini Loaves

I made these to accompany a roasted pumpkin and smoked garlic soup. I had intended to serve them as a light dinner for a friend, but ended up consuming them both with my mother instead – along with much delicious cheese and beer! This is a lovely hearty rustic bread that goes down well in winter. As always, I looked to my trusty bread book by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno for the recipe:

Ingredients for the starter:

2 tsp dried yeast

150ml tepid water

125 g white flour

For the dough:

75g white flour

300g rye flour

2 tsp salt

250ml water

 

To make the starter:

Sprinkle the yeast into the water in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. Add the flour and mix to form a thick batter. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 2 hours.

To make the dough:

Mix the flours and the salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the starter as well as half the water. Mix in the flour along with the remaining water, as needed, to form a moist, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in a clean bowl and leave to rise until doubled in size, about an hour. Knock back and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into long loaves, about 30 cm in length. Place the loaves on a well floured baking sheet and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Lightly dust the loaves with flour. Cut seven or six parallel slashes down the side of the loaves. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove, about 1 and 1/2 hours. The loaves should have doubled in size. Bake in a preheated oven (200 degrees) for 45 minutes until hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on a wire rack.