Friday was feeding day for my Almanac sourdough starter, which meant it was time to test out a new recipe with the discard!
For anyone not familiar with sourdough starter, it is a mixture of yeast + flour + water. The yeast eats the other ingredients, farts it out, multiplies, farts some more, and leaves you with an acidic bubbling goop that makes delicious baked goods.
After a while, the yeast consumes all the flour and water. Kind of like an uncuddly pet, you need to feed it every so often.
But, since the yeast has multiplied, you need to feed it more flour and more water than before. That means you’re left with an exponentially growing starter every time it’s mealtime, especially if you don’t plan on baking bread at least once a week. That is why you need to discard/remove a good chunk of starter (unless you have a lot of fridge space).
Discard is — in my opinion — a bad term for excess sourdough starter. Removal is a much better word. You don’t need to actually throw these leftovers away! You can turn the removed starter into pretty much anything you would normally make out of sourdough. My go-to is to experiment with different types of rolls — like cinnamon rolls, but with other fillings.
Last time, I wrote about my attempt at replicating my favourite blueberry and licorice rolls from the famous Brauð & Co bakery in Iceland (cool story: they loved my IG post + recipe and shared it with their followers!). Using the same dough recipe, I tried out something savoury this time.
Combining herbs that I grew last summer and dried in the fall, fresh organic rosemary that I bought too much of, my signature sesame seeds, and the creamiest sheep’s milk feta ever, I was inspired by some of my favourite flavours (yes, I wanted to eat all of them at once):
- Restaurant Roklubben‘s mashed potatoes. This might sound really funny, but I had some of the best mashed potatoes of my life in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, of all places! The chefs were kind enough to give me the recipe. It included lots of “origano” (their cute spelling) — somehow, the dried oregano I buy in store doesn’t smell or taste anything like what they used, but the one from my garden is exactly the same! I had to include it in my recipe.
- Cheese bourekas. I first tried them at Bread & Sons Bakery a few years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. Puff pastry squares filled with feta and covered with toasted sesame seeds, they are tasty and filling. They are fairly easy to make (I’ve made them a few times), but I often get them when they’re available at the bakery. Since I’m not in their area of town and I don’t have/don’t want to make puff pastry, sesame seeds and feta are going to go in this recipe.
- Rosemary and goat cheese filled croissants from Wild Oat Bakery are another favourite treat of mine. I think these are what kicked off my rosemary+cheese+butter cravings for the past few years and why you probably noticed that I add rosemary to everything. They are so good and I obviously had to add rosemary to my pastries too!
Anyways, enough of my blabbing. Scroll down for the easy peasy recipe.
INGREDIENTS
Exact same amount of sourdough from my last recipe *
2 Tbsp ground oregano (I used a half-half mix of Greek and golden oreganos)
2 Tbsp ground thyme (I used a half-half mix of common and lemon thyme)
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 Tbsp ground dried rosemary)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds (I used white and black seeds)
1/4 tsp sea salt (highly recommend Saltverk’s hand-harvested flaky sea salt)
1/4 tsp Iranian sumac or freshly grated lemon zest
5-6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used Terra Delyssa’s organic Tunisian EVOO)
1 1/2 – 2 cups crumbled feta (I used Milkhouse Dairy’s sheep’s milk feta)
1 egg
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare dough as described in my original roll recipe here.
* This time, I left my sourdough starter on my kitchen counter for two days, instead of just overnight. Highly recommend doing this, as your dough will be a lot more active (will puff up more). - In a bowl, mix all herbs, salt, sumac/lemon zest, and half the sesame seeds with olive oil. Let rest for at least an hour to infuse oil.
- Roll out dough as described in previous recipe. Completely cover with oil and herb mixture, from edge to edge. Sprinkle on crumbled feta.
- Working from the long side, tightly roll the dough into a log, making sure that it’s of even thickness.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the log into 8-12 rolls, depending on the desired size.
- Cover a baking sheet or two with parchment paper. Space rolls far apart on sheet(s) — ideally, you don’t want them to touch when they bake. Using the palm of your hand, lightly press down on the rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and put in your fridge overnight.
- In the morning, take the pan out of the fridge. Allow buns to reach room temperature for at least 2 hours.
- Beat egg and brush on tops and sides of rolls. Sprinkle on remaining sesame seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (190°C). Bake until roll is a medium to dark golden brown, about 30 minutes for small rolls, up for 55 minutes for large ones. Keep an eye on any areas that are not covered in egg wash — since the egg wash darkens faster, use the bare areas as an indicator for readiness. The rolls will be ready once those parts are golden.
- Remove rolls from baking sheet and let cool for a few minutes. Enjoy while still warm.
