Tomato Bread with Sourdough

Here's how:

• 1

  Chop the small tomatoes that will go into the bread. Pour the water into a bread machine. Add the crumbled fresh yeast and let it dissolve in the water. Then add the remaining ingredients, except for the salt, and knead the dough until smooth using the dough hook for about 10 minutes. Add the salt and knead the dough for another 5 minutes until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Double the time if you’re kneading the dough by hand.

• 2

  Leave the dough in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 90 minutes.

• 3

  Place the dough on a flat surface and fold the edges of the dough toward the center. Turn the dough so that the seam is facing down. Shape it into a round loaf and place it on an oiled (so the bread can be easily moved without sticking) baking sheet or baking pan.

   

• 4

  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and press them lightly into the bread dough. Sprinkle chopped fresh basil and finely chopped garlic evenly over the bread. Drizzle olive oil over the bread.

• 5

  Preheat the oven to 250 °C. Cover the bread with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rise until it doubles in size, about 40–60 minutes. 

• 6

  Sprinkle a little flaked salt on the bread and place it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the bread for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 220 °C and bake it for another 30 minutes or so. If you have a thermometer, check the temperature of the bread. The bread is done when the internal temperature reaches 98 °C. Let the bread cool on a wire rack at room temperature.