This Parmesan Black Pepper Sourdough Bread is better than anything I thought would ever come out of my own oven. The cheese is everywhere: some of is melts into the crumb, some of it forms pockets within the crumb, some of it gets caught in the crust and becomes like a deliriously delicious cheese cracker. The pepper comes through perfectly. You will not need to butter this bread. Although it would make an out-of-this-world sandwich, you’ll just want to eat it on its own.
Makes 1 large (a bit more than 2½ lbs) loaf
Levain
200 g (1 cup) sourdough starter
114 g (½ cup) filtered water
114 g (¾ cup) bread flour
- In the evening, mix starter with water and flour. Stir to combine, then stir for 100 strokes. Cover and let rest on countertop overnight.
Autolyse
286 g (1¼ cups) filtered water, room temperature
114 g (¾ cup + 2 Tbs) whole-wheat pastry flour
332 g (2¼ cups + 1 Tbs) bread flour
- The next morning, add water to the starter and whisk until fully combined. Add flours and fold with a silicone spatula until you can’t see any remaining dry flour. Then, use the back of the spatula to push down into the dough many times, all over, in an effort to mix the dough further. Cut into it with the spatula to see if you can find pockets of dry flour. Once you’re satisfied that there is no more dry flour, run the spatula along the side of the bowl to neaten things up, and then cover the bowl and let it rest on the countertop for 1 hour.
Final Mixing, Bulk Fermentation, and Stretch & Fold
14 g (2 tsp) coarse sea salt
114 g Parmesan cheese, diced into (1 cup of) ¾-inch cubes
114 g Parmesan cheese, shredded (2¼ cups)
9 g (1 Tbs) coarsely ground black pepper
- Sprinkle half the salt, cubes, shredded cheese, and pepper over the dough. Then, use a rigid, silicone bowl scraper to fold the dough in on itself, gradually turning the bowl after each fold, so that you’re folding from every possible angle. Do this athletically, shoving the folds deep into the dough mass; you want a thorough mixing. Continue until the dough is well mixed, at least 100 folds. Sprinkle remaining salt, cubes, shredded cheese, and pepper over the dough and repeat this procedure. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
I recommend that you buy a full pound of Parmesan, and that you buy the good stuff. You’ll have some leftover, but I doubt you’ll find that to be a problem. Yes, the good stuff will set you back, making this bread something of a luxury.
Finely ground pepper will not work in the same way in this circumstance.
- Thoroughly wet your hands. Grab one edge of the dough, and pull it up and over the main mass of dough, all the way to the other side of the bowl. Push it down, thereby folding the dough onto itself. Give the bowl a quarter turn and repeat this procedure. Do this until you’ve folded all four corners. As you approach the final fold, the dough will toughen up, and will be harder to stretch and fold. Pull the dough right up out of the bowl, and let gravity stretch it for you as you accomplish your fold. However, you don’t want the dough to tear. You want it only to stretch. Be careful about that. This might mean that your last fold isn’t much of a fold, and that’s OK. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Repeat this step 5 more times.
Some people do fewer stretch-and-folds … maybe as few as three. Six works for me. Although, this could be due to the fact that I start folding pretty early on in the bulk fermentation process. So, my early folds are probably not doing much.
- Place the covered bowl in the refrigerator overnight.
- On the final morning, turn the bread out onto a sparingly floured surface and shape it into a round, about 40 tucks. If as you do this, Parmesan cubes pop out, tuck them underneath the dough ball that you’re forming, and tuck them up into it. Dust the dough with flour, cover it with a clean tea towel, and let it rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, fit a casserole pot with parchment that you’ve coated in butter and dusted with cornmeal.
There are lots of ways to shape the dough
- Gently move the dough into the prepared pot. Cover, and refrigerate for 3 hours. When you have 45 minutes left to go on your 3-hour timer, place a second, covered casserole pot into the oven, on a baking stone, and preheat the oven to 500°F.
If you don’t have two casserole pots, you could use any round container with a similar diameter for your final proofing.
- Score the loaf. Transfer it to the hot casserole, parchment and all. Place three ice cubes into the pot, in between the parchment and the side of the pot (not touching the bread). Cover the pot and place it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 450°F, and bake for 25 more minutes.
- Use the parchment to lift the bread from the pan, then use the parchment to place the bread back into the oven, onto the baking stone, and slide the parchment out. Continue baking until the interior of the loaf reaches 200°F, about 10 more minutes.
This loaf, like any, needs a couple of hours to cool before you can slice into it. Unlike cookies, where “still warm from the oven” is a good thing, bread isn’t really finished until it’s cooled. Slicing into a warm loaf will ruin it.
That said, if you wait about 2½ hours, so that you can no longer detect any residual heat when you wrap your hands gently around the loaf, and then cut into it … you’ll find just a touch of warmth inside: complete and utter ecstasy. Beyond that, I love this bread at room temperature, heated on the lowest toaster setting so that the toaster warms the bread without toasting it, and I also love this bread toasted. Each of those three conditions emphasizes different aspects of the bread, from the texture of its crumb to the flavor of the cheese to the crispy, cracker-like nature of its crust.
Five days later, stored on the countertop with just the exposed crumb covered by plastic wrap held in place by foil, you’ll still find this bread to be excellent. You may be able to detect that it’s dried out some, but that’ll only be because you knew what it was like on day one. There’s no way you can call this bread at five days “dry.”
The Backstory
This recipe comes from Zingerman’s Bakehouse[1]. I adapted it to suit my no-knead, casserole-pot baking method, and I used a larger amount of levain.
I lived in Ann Arbor for a couple of years, and Zingerman’s was a regular part of my life. I’d stop by one or two weekday afternoons each week, taste a handful of cheeses, buy one or two, and pair it with one of their fantastic breads. I hope I never again wind up living in a state where guys with rocket launchers storm the capitol to fight for their freedom to sentence the vulnerable among us to death by refusing to wear masks. But if I do, A2 would be toward the top of my list, and Zingerman’s would be toward the top of the reasons why.
[1] Emberling, Amy, and Frank Corollo. 2017. “Parmesan Pepper Bread.” In Zingerman’s Bakehouse, 56-57. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Parmesan Black Pepper Sourdough Bread
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man!, unless otherwise indicated. Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. In preparing this post, I found these sites to be immensely useful: Bread Magazine, The Fresh Loaf, Proof
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Gorgeous. I love adding things to bread, and I know this one tastes amazing!
Mimi recently posted…Corn-Tomato Salad with Tapenade
I was really pleased with it. I’m planning on baking one of these the next time I’m ever invited to dinner – whenever that kind of thing is allowed again!
Perfect crust and wonderful flavours! You bake just like a pro, Jeff.
angiesrecipes recently posted…Tomato and Peach Salad With Whipped Goat Cheese
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There is nothing like the taste of sourdough! It is always our bread of preference, although I’ve never baked one myself.. This looks amazing.
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One of the photo studios makes a sour dough cheese bread similar to this so I can attest how out of this world good it is! That cheese! I need to find a sour dough starter, mine died soon into covid.
I’m truly sorry about the state of affairs in the US, it makes me very sad.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Pickled Daikon
I made my first-ever starter during covid, and I finally said good-bye to it about a week ago. I start most of my breads with a poolish, and I want to see if I can maybe build a new starter up from one of those.
If the US were a relationship – and in a very real way, it is – I feel we’ve reached the point where that sick feeling in your gut finally tells you that it’s over. The best I think we can hope for is an amicable divorce, but I kind of doubt that’s going to happen.
Wow. You’ve outdone yourself here, Jeff. I feel like I can actually taste this bread, which is odd because I clearly don’t have a loaf sitting next to me right now. Odd. Guess I need to fix that problem and make a loaf – it’s been a hot minute or two since I baked some sourdough, so it’s time to pull out that starter!
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This is one beautiful loaf, Jeff! Now I wish I lived next door…
Thanks, David! We’d sure have some great meals if you did!
Your breads are amazing Jeff! Can’t wait to try this one.
Thanks!
Thank you!
You are killing me here! This looks so delicious. although, truth be told, sourdough is something I would probably never attempt.
Pattie recently posted…Hatch Seasoned Pecans
You know what? I didn’t think I’d attempt it, either. If you’re used to baking with yeast, it’s not very different. The only thing I don’t care for is exactly the thing I thought I wouldn’t care for, which is keeping the damn starter alive. It’s fun at first, but after a while it becomes a chore.
Gorgeous! Love the pepper in it. And the cheese, of course. Super recipe — thanks.
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…White Bean and Tuna Dip
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I’m new at sourdough, but have had some experience of baking yeast bread. Thanks for sharing all the useful tips. The texture looks great.
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You have sold this deliriously well. I WANT it. GREG
Thanks, Greg! Wish I could bring some over!
Yes, please. My weakness is bread. I haven’t done much bread baking this summer, but now that fall is right around the corner, I think I’ll have to save this recipe to try soon. It would be great to have sitting on my deck with a hot cup of tea for breakfast when the weather turns chilly!
That tea on the deck sounds wonderful! And bread no weakness! It’s one of life’s pleasures! I know what you mean about summer – like, who wants to heat up the kitchen when it’s scorching hot outside? But bread rises so beautifully in warm weather.
We’ve been working our way through the recent Poilâne cookbook, and have loved the recipe for a pain de mie with black pepper. Really a good taste. I don’t recall the pepper-laced bread at Zingerman’s, where I’ve bought bread for years.
be well… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
You know, I’m not sure I ever had this bread at Zingerman’s, either … maybe I was always too distracted by their chocolate cherry bread … but it’s in their cookbook, and it’s wonderful.
Jeff, I’m not a pastry baker, but I am a bread baker. Thursdays are my bread baking day, so I’ve got this one marked and shall make it very soon.
I’ve not been to Zingerman’s, but sure would enjoy it. We have a wonderful cheesemonger in Lund that also sells fantastic bread. Unfortunately, it way too crowded for me to visit just now.
You know as an American living abroad, I’m asked constantly what’s wrong in American. It’s a thing I never thought I’d have to try and explain if I could.
Take care…
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I’m not sure it can be explained. I’ve heard attempts; all of them sound true, but none of them seems singularly compelling. The one thing you hear suspiciously little about is the newsmedia’s role.
Jeff
I loved the very look of this loaf and would straight go for it on its own. I loved the idea of using black pepper in this bread. Great flavours and that crispy crust.
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Looks delicious Jeff !! I could literally smell the bread! This is definitely going on my lists of breads to try!
Rahul recently posted…Cheese Dabeli – A Popular Indian Chaat loved by all.
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Making this bread looks like quite a feat with the stretch and fold technique repeated 5 times (with a 30-minute rest in-between?) plus another 3-hour rest in the fridge (see, I did read the recipe)! However, it looks totally worth it!
I know! It’s a minimal amount of work, but it’s spread out over three days. That’s the trade-off. But longer breads usually taste better, and often have a better texture – and that’s certainly true with this bread.
Jeff, I AM DYING!!!! THIS IS PERFECTION!! I can almost taste the parmesan, your description of how it makes its way throughout the whole loaf is mouthwatering. Need to make this ASAP!!
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I’m sure you’ll enjoy it! Thank you!
What beautiful bread Jeff, looks perfect, I love it!
Thanks, Gloria!
Wow, this sounds fabulous. I’m not much of a baker but this sounds too good to pass up. Will definitely give it a go!
Thanks, Frank!
Oh my goodness, Jeff, this bread looks absolutely sensational. I love the way you’ve described it, cheesy bits everywhere, and I was already drooling all over these photos. I believe you when you say that eating it by itself is a treat. I wish this is something that was coming out of my oven soon! Sourdough perfection right here, well done.
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Jeff,
This bread sounds amazing and I am drooling. I can only imagine how good those cheesy bits throughout the bread taste. I’ve never met a sourdough bread I didn’t like.
Thanks! It really is good!
Really I loved this bread Jeff!
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Jeff, you mention leaving the bread in the fridge overnight. Can you provide an ideal time? Or what to look for before removing to start shaping
“Overnight” translates to 8-12 hours. What you’re looking for is the same thing you’re looking for in any dough’s first rise: increase in volume and a yeilding, softness when handled – although this is somewhat tricky to determine with fridge-temperature dough. Don’t sweat it, though. If you’re more toward the 8-hour side, and you’re not sure if the dough is properly risen, let it rest on the countertop for maybe 45 minutes. If you’re more toward the 12-hour side, just assume everything has gone well and proceed with next steps. Hope that helps.
Made this bread this week. Wow YUMMY!! I wasn’t sure if I should leave it double before going into fridge overnight but I did and let it double in size. I wanted to bake in my Loaf Nest so I halved the dough, put it in oval proofing baskets last few hours before baking in the Loaf Nest. So good!! Will be perfect to a soup or chili when weather is right.
Oh, I’m so glad! I can’t really take full credit – it’s a Zingerman’s recipe. But I’m so happy you like it!