I made my first bread with ricotta and potatoes last year, and I’ve been improving the recipe ever since. You'll obtain a soft bread with these quantities, which keeps something from the strong cheese flavor. However, you can still use this as regular bread for sandwiches or just a snack.
Please note that potato bread has more calories and more sugar than wheat bread. On the other hand, it’s poor in sodium, and it has more protein and fiber than wheat bread, so it helps you feel full for a long time. Plus, it's rich in folate and phosphorus.
You can get excellent results from using ricotta alone, but I’ve decided to go further and make a mix of ricotta and Philadelphia cheese. I’m a big fan of cream cheese. To obtain a strong cheese flavor, I added some Parmigiano. If you prefer a light flavor, you should skip Parmigiano and increase ricotta and cream cheese quantities.
The sourdough needs two risings, so empower yourself with patience and pay attention to details. As for the shape, I prefer to play a bit with bread. If you want to maintain my shape, you have to divide the dough and work it a little using the indications below. If you are into easier stuff, divide the dough into halves after the first rising and place it in loaf tins (20cm x 6 cm in size).
Good to know:
If you want to shape the bread as I did, you will need to use a trick to maintain the hole in the middle. Roll a piece of aluminum foil paper around a pen. Add it in the center of the ring of dough immediately after shaping it, before it starts rising again:
Every time I write a sourdough recipe, I mention the quantity of yeast I use. However, this can vary with the product, so it's better to adapt the recipe to what the producer recommends in the indications on the box. I use brewers yeast, which I crumble directly into the flour, but each type of yeast has a specific working method that guarantees better results. The best advice I can give you is to prepare the yeast using the producer's recommendation.
Let’s get it started!
Ingredients
- A mix of: 35 grams ricotta, 30 grams of Philadelphia cheese, 30 grams Parmigiano
- Yolk - 1
- Potato - 1, medium
- Bread flour - 350 grams
- Yeast - 20 grams
- Water - 100 ml
- Salt - 12 grams
Directions
- 1Boil the potato. Choose a medium one, as you will need to have 115 grams of mashed boiled potato.
- 2Peel the potato, smash it and let it cool.
- 3In a large bowl (the one from the kneading machine, if you use one), mix 115 grams of mashed potato with the blend of cheese and the yolk. Fold in the flour and the yeast, then the salt, and knead the dough gently, while adding lukewarm water. If you use a kneading machine, keep it at a low speed, even if it might take a while to have a smooth dough. You might need to add another 10 ml of water if you feel the dough is too tough.
- 4Once the dough has a shape, remove it from the bowl and work it for 3-4 minutes on a floured work surface.
- 5Put the dough back in the bowl, cover it with stretch film, and leave it to rise for about one and a half hours or until its volume doubles.
- 6After 90 minutes, move the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide it into 8 pieces of 85-93 grams. Work each piece to obtain a 35 cm rope of dough.
- 7Cut the rope into 2 shorter ones and intertwine them. Use this new rope to make a ring of dough. Place the rings in a baking tray on parchment paper. Put aluminum foil paper in the center to keep the hole.
- 8Cover the dough rings with stretch film to maintain their humidity. Let them rise for 40 minutes or until doubled.
- 9Bake at 180°C (356°F) for at least 22 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
