Are You Making Sourdough?

Making sourdough starter during the pandemic was one of the only fun things about the pandemic. I have made three loaves of bread. I try and anticipate my sourdough needs for the week, because the starter is a living, breathing thing that sits on your counter and needs care and feeding. If you aren’t planning to make bread, you can store your starter in the refrigerator, but you need to leave it out two days before using it again, so this all requires planning.

I saw my jar of starter on the counter, and it was getting filled to the top in my Mason jar. I knew I needed to get to making something soon, but I was tired of a boule. What I really wanted to make were meatballs and hummus, so… I figured out a recipe (inspired by all recipes on the internet, of course) for how to use my sourdough starter to make naan. I was delighted with the result. It was beautiful, more flavorful than the doughy white pita or naan I typically buy at the store and … I made it myself!

A feast of mediterranean meatballs on hummus with naan and yogurt sauce

How To Use The Naan

This naan is excellent for dipping into hummus, to wrap up a meatball and cucumber yogurt sauce like a taco, or just torn into hunks and jammed into your face.

Love Baking? Consider making some of these other dishes

A piece of flatbread cooking in a black skillet.

Sourdough Naan

Stephanie Hansen

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

½ cup active sourdough starter* see note
1/4 c. water
1/4 c. plain whole milk yogurt
1 3/4 c. flour** see note
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large egg

Instructions

Place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Give it a brief stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make a shaggy dough.
Attach to the base of the stand mixer and fit with the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed for 6 minutes until the dough comes together in a tight glossy ball.
Cover and allow to rise for 6–8 hours, or until doubled in bulk (my kitchen is cold, so I usually heat my oven to 200, then turn it off and put my bowl in the oven with the oven light on to help with the rise)
Place the risen dough onto a well-floured work surface (or you can skip the flour and roll out on a Silpat mat, which is what I do. This dough is not that sticky) Form into 12-16 balls, depending on how large you want the final naan to be. Roll each ball into a 1/8-inch thick circle and about 6 inches across.
Preheat 2 cast iron skillets over high heat. (I use two to cut down on cooking time)
Place a circle of dough onto the preheated skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the bottom is deeply browned. Flip and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the bottom is very dark (almost black) in places. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining dough.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

*Find my sourdough starter here.

**You can use unbleached white or bread flour. I used a Heritage Wheat flour called Baker's Field Flour and Bread that is milled at the Food Building in NE Mpls – this is the same flour I use in my sourdough starter.

Check out all my bread recipes here.