Golden Semolina Bread

This recipe is from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, posted on request. Original name is Golden Semolina Torpedo. Semolina is an excepionally high-protein flour, finely milled from durum wheat. Most bakers use it in combination with high gluten unbleached flour to improve texture. However, this recipe uses 100% semolina so that you can enjoy the full impact of its amazing flavor and deeply golden color (a few cracks in the crust is common). To avoid toughening this bread, it's best to knead the dough by hand (the dough is exceptionally satiny, according to the author). Best served with a thin layer of butter or ricotta. Prep time is an estimation. NOTE: use silky soft durum flour not the coarse granular semolina flour. Or you can replace some of the durum flour with unbleached bread/AP flour for a better-shaped loaf.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 35 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Sponge Starter

• 2⁄3 cup  durum flour (3.5 oz/100g)
• 1⁄8 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3⁄4 cup water (room temp)

• Flour Mixture

• 1  cup  durum flour (5.5 oz/155g)
• 3⁄8 teaspoon instant yeast (the total yeast for whole recipe is 1/2 tsp)
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt, plus
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
•  bread flour, for kneading

Directions

1. Make the starter: In a medium bowl, whisk together durum flour and yeast; then whisk in water and stir until very smooth for 2 mins; scrape down the sides of the bowl and cover with clingwrap.
2. Combine the 1/4 cup of durum flour and the 3/8 tsp of yeast, then whisk in the salt.
3. Gently scoop it onto the sponge to completely cover it, cover with clingwrap and allow to ferment for 1-4 hours at room temp (up to 24hrs in the fridge, remove from fridge 1 hr before mixing the dough).
4. Mix the bubbly starter together with flour mixture (covering the top of starter) using a wooden spoon until all flour is moistened.
5. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a surface floured with some of the remaining durum flour and knead for about 5 minutes.
6. Add more reserved durum flour as needed to keep dough from sticking (use a bench scraper to scrape and gather the dough as you knead).
7. The dough will be slightly tacky and cling slightly to your fingers; cover it with the inverted bowl and allow to rest for 20mins.
8. Knead dough for another 5 mins until it is smooth and elastic, adding more reserved durum flour if necessary.
9. It's ok if dough is still slightly tacky, but you should be able to form a ball and holds its shape.
10. Let the dough rise in a lightly oiled bowl, covered with clingwrap, until doubled in bulk 1 1/2- 2 hours.
11. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured counter and shape it into a torpedo-shaped loaf (or regular loaf), set it into a parchment-lined baking sheet.
12. Cover it loosely with oiled clingwrap and let rise again until doubled in bulk (1 hr- 1 hr 15 mins); when the dough is ready to be baked, a fingertip-depression will very slowly fill inches.
13. One hour before baking, preheat oven to 450F, with a cast-iron skillet or sheet pan on the floor of the oven.
14. Make a few 1/4-1/2 inch deep slashes in the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
15. Mist the dough with water and quickly set the baking pan on the hot stone/sheet pan; toss 1/2 cup of ice cubes into the pan beneath and immediately shut the oven door.
16. Bake for 20mins, lower the temp to 400F and continue baking for another 10-20mins, until bread is golden brown (skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean or instant read thermometer read 208F).
17. For crispier crust, lift the bread from the pan with a heavy pancake turner about halfway through baking and set into directly on the baking stone.
18. When the bread is done, cool completely on wire racks.