Nordic Rye

A very harty rye bread with sunflower and flax seeds. There is no actual rye flour in this bread, rather all of the rye comes as rye meal, in the sourdough as well as the soaker and the main dough - 400g (14 1/8 oz) of rye meal is used. Rounded up with some spelt flowers and sesame seeds on top. Exceptionally long kneading time, 50 minutes in total for the main dough. First recipe from my new book, my kind of bread..

Sourdough

• 150g (5 1/4 oz) rye meal
• 15g (1/2 oz) rye sourdough starter
• 120ml (4 oz) water

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let prove at room temperature for 14-16 hours.

Soaker

• 150g (5 1/4 oz) rye meal
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) sunflower seeds
• 60g (2 1/8 oz) flax seeds
• 15g (1/2 oz) sugar
• 15g (1/2 oz) roasted rye malt powder
• 13g (1/2 oz) salt
• 250ml water

Roast sunflower seeds and flax seeds separately in a pan without oil over medium heat until you can smell their aroma. Then combine all dry ingredients in a bowl or jar, pour water over and give it a good stir. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and leave in the fridge over night.

Main Dough

• Sourdough
• Soaker
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) whole grain spelt flour
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) rye meal
• 10g (3/8 oz) fresh wet yeast, or 1 1/2 tsp of Active Dry Yeast, 3/4 tsp of sugar and 40ml (1 3/8 oz) of water, mixed and let stand for 10 minutes
• Sesame seeds for decoration

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead with a mixer using the dough hook on low speed for 30 minutes. Cover with a kitchen towel and let prove at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then knead again with the dough hook for 20 minutes.

On a floured surface knead the dough by hand and form into oval shape. The dough is very sticky, so it helps when you wet your hands. Brush the surface of the dough with cold water and roll in sesame seeds. Then transfer into a rectangular baking pan, cover with a kitchen towel and let prove at room temperature for 50 minutes.

Place a shallow baking pan on the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 240°C (465°F).

Transfer baking pan onto oven rack at around the bottom third and poor 250ml (1 cup) of water into the baking pan below. Immediately reduce temperature to 200°C (395°F). After 3-4 minutes open the oven door for about 1 minute to let out excess steam (placing a wooden spoon between oven door and oven works pretty well). Bake for a total of 40-45 minutes, then immediately take out of the baking pan and let cool on a cooling rack.

Original recipe by Arno Simon, Marie Therese Simon, Alexander Schmidt in "Das große Buch vom Brot" (German language), published by Christian Verlag.