“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself.” (Ezekiel 4:9)
We ground the ancient grains into fresh flour, prepared the dough, allowed it to naturally ferment, and baked it to perfection. The result is a hearty, substantial bread with a dense texture and an incredibly rich, complex flavor. It is absolutely wonderful when dipped simply in high-quality olive oil and vinegar.
Ingredients:
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Sourdough Starter: ~1.5 to 3 oz (40–80 g)
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Salt: 1.5 tsp / 0.35 oz (10 g)
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Water: 1 2/3 cups / 12.7 fl oz (375 ml)
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The Flour Blend: (Approx. 17.6 oz / 500 g total, divided equally)
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~6 oz (170 g) whole wheat flour (ideally, a mix of two different ancient wheat varieties, if you can source them)
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~3 oz (85 g) whole barley flour
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~3 oz (85 g) fava bean (broad bean) flour
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~3 oz (85 g) lentil flour
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~3 oz (85 g) millet flour
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Instructions:
1. Mix the Wet Ingredients
Place your mixing bowl on a digital scale and tare it to zero. Add the sourdough starter, salt, and water. Using your hand, gently break up and dissolve the starter into the water.
2. Combine the Flours
In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix all the different flours together until uniform. Add this flour blend into your bowl of wet ingredients.
3. Initial Mix and Rest
Mix the ingredients by hand until a cohesive, shaggy dough forms. Use your hand to fold it into a uniform mass, then cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
4. The First Set of Folds
Remove the dough from the bowl to perform 12 structural folds:
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How to fold: Do not flip the dough over. Anchor the center of the dough with one hand, and use your other hand to stretch the edge of the dough upward and fold it inward toward the center.
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Press down firmly to secure the fold. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat.
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Do this exactly 12 times. Return the dough to the bowl, ensuring it sits fold/seam side up, and cover it again with the damp towel.
5. Bulk Fermentation (The Main Rise)
Leave the covered bowl at room temperature to undergo its primary fermentation for 6 hours. The dough will rise slightly and become aerated.
A Note on Sourdough Continuity: Typically, after this main fermentation phase, we would pull off a small piece of dough to save in the refrigerator as the starter for our next bake. However, due to the unique legume and ancient grain components of this specific dough, we do not save a starter from this batch.
6. Shaping and the Second Rise
Perform another round of 12 folds exactly as you did in Step 4. Choose one of the following two methods for shaping:
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Loaf Pan Method: Place the dough into a greased baking pan with the seam side down.
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Free-form Boule Method: Shape the dough into a round loaf and place it to rise on a floured proofing cloth inside a proofing basket, seam side up. (If using this method, you will flip the loaf right-side up at the moment you transfer it into the oven).
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Cover and let the dough undergo its second rise for 1.5 hours.
7. Baking
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Once the second rise is complete, slide the loaf into the oven. Bake without convection/turbo (using standard conventional top-and-bottom heat).
Bake at 450°F (230°C) for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C) and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Total baking time is 45 minutes.
