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Sourdough ftira

Sourdough ftira

Two rings ready for a filling
Author:
Austin Welsh-Graham
| Source:
The Toasty Book of Bread
Categories: The Toasty Book of Bread Cooking Method Bread Form Leavening Collection Regional Route Main Material
Tags: Oven-baked Ring bread Sourdough The Toasty Book of Bread Western and Mediterranean Europe Wheat
Ingredients
160 g Wheat sourdough starter (Active, 100% hydration.)480 g White bread flour340 g Water12 g Fine salt10 g Dusting flour (For dusting, if needed.)
Description

The hole makes ftira easy to recognise. The pleasure of opening it explains more. A knife reveals the soft interior beneath a substantial crust, and the ring becomes somewhere to put lunch. Its outline belongs to the baker's hands, while its filling belongs to the table.

Two sourdough rings inspired by Maltese ftira, ready to open and fill once cooled. Makes 2 medium rings.

Recipe
Mixing and kneading
1
Dissolve starter in water and mix with flour. Cover for 20 minutes. Work in salt. Rest 15 minutes.
Resting and fermentation
1
Give three sets of folds, 15 minutes apart. Cover until airy and about 70% larger, roughly 4-6 hours from mixing at 24 °C.
Shaping and layering
1
Divide in two. Round lightly and rest 10 minutes. On floured parchment, gently flatten to about 22 cm. Open a 5 cm central hole with floured fingers. Cover and proof about 60-90 minutes, until puffy.
Cooking
1
Preheat stone or heavy tray at 250 °C for 45 minutes. Reopen the hole gently if closing. Transfer on temperature-rated parchment. Bake 20-25 minutes to a browned crust and cooked centre. Cool on a rack.
Notes

About 7–10 hours after feeding the starter. 30 minutes hands-on. Scraper, flat tray, and a stone or heavy baking tray.

Keep some of the air

This dough is soft. Flour the surface for handling, but do not knead in handfuls at shaping. Flatten with gentle fingertips. Avoid rolling it hard with a pin. A flour-dusted scraper is useful when dividing and moving it.

Watch the dough, then the crust

The fermentation estimate assumes a lively starter. Continue waiting if the dough is still dense. Shorten the wait in a warm kitchen. During baking, check from 18 minutes: the smaller rings will colour faster than one large loaf.

Freeze any spare ring once cool.