Sourdough Potato Bread

I love finding ways to use the potatoes we grew last year—although they didn’t turn out as expected, they were still valuable in the kitchen. Our harvest yielded tiny potatoes, almost like baby potatoes, and I’ve been incorporating them into various recipes. Probably the recipe I used them the most this year is Verena’s potato salad from “Comfort” by Yotam Ottolenghi released at the end of 2024.

This sourdough bread is one of my favorite ways to use even the smaller potatoes that are left from our harvest.

The recipe is inspired by Dan Lepard’s “The Handmade Loaf”, a book I still turn to for guidance. The addition of grated potato makes the crumb extra tender while adding subtle sweetness and moisture to the bread.

Potato Sourdough Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

- 125g white leaven

- 75g grated, scrubbed, unpeeled potato

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 300g water (at 20°C)

- 450g strong white flour

- 50g rye flour

- 1½ tsp fine sea salt

Method:

1. Mixing the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the leaven, grated potato, honey, and water. Add the flour and mix on medium speed for a couple of minutes until fully incorporated. Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes.

2. Kneading: Add the salt and mix in the stand mixer for 5–10 minutes, until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. If mixing by hand, knead for about 10 minutes.

3. First Rise: Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl and let it rise for four hours at room temperature.

4. Cold Proof (Optional): After the first rise, you can either refrigerate the dough for 12–16 hours for a deeper flavor or proceed directly to shaping.

5. Shaping & Bench Rest: Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, shape it into a ball, cover with an upturned bowl, and let it rest for 20 minutes.

6. Final Proof: Shape the dough into a boule and place it into a well-floured bread-proofing basket, seam side up. Let it proof at room temperature for about two hours, or refrigerate overnight for a slower fermentation.

7. Baking:

- Preheat the oven to 250°C with a cast iron pan (with a lid) inside.

- Tip the dough from the basket onto a sheet of baking paper slightly larger than the basket.

- Score the top of the dough.

- Carefully transfer the dough with the baking paper into the hot cast iron pan. Cover with the lid, leaving a small gap, and spray a little water into the gap.

- Close the lid fully and bake for 15 minutes.

- Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes or until the bread reaches your desired color.

8. Cooling: Let the bread cool completely, ideally overnight, before slicing.

This bread has a beautifully tender crumb and a crisp crust. Let me know if you try this recipe—I’d love to hear how it turns out!