Wild Spinach Sourdough Bread

Wild Spinach Sourdough Bread

By Jella Bertell (Helsinki)

This sourdough recipe blends hulled oats, organic wheat from small-scale farmers, whole grain emmer, einkorn, broken oats, cold-pressed rapeseed oil, organic honey, and wild spinach (known as white goosefoot or lamb’s quarters).

The result is a bread with a soft texture and a deep, layered flavour, naturally fermented with wild yeast—teeming with microbes and bacteria that aid digestion.

Both emmer and einkorn, ancient grains with distinct flavours, help preserve biodiversity by maintaining unique genetic traits. Rapeseed, at home in Finland’s climate, provides essential fatty acids and nurtures soil health when grown without pesticides. Responsibly foraged wild spinach not only enhances the flavour but fosters a nourishing connection to the ecologies inside and around us.

Ingredients

100 g wholegrain emmer flour (10 %)
100 g einkorn flour (10 %)
800 g common wheat flour (80 %)
600 g lukewarm water (60 %)
100 g active sourdough starter (10 %)
30 g organic honey (3 %)
30 g cold-pressed organic rapeseed oil (3 %)
20 g coarse grey sea salt (2 %)

Garnishes:

100 g washed wild spinach
50 g broken oats
100 g boiling water (for chilling the oats)

Method

Roasting and Preparing Ingredients: Begin by feeding the necessary amount of starter and leaving it to develop into a baking state. While waiting for the sourdough starter to “wake up,” you can process the wild spinach and blanch the broken oats. To prepare the oats, bring 100 g of water to a boil and pour it over the broken oats. Cover them (e.g., in a small barrel with a lid) and allow the oats to swell as they cool. This process ensures the oats absorb all the water and won’t take additional moisture from the dough later. For the wild spinach, carefully remove any thick stalks and roots, retaining the tender stalks, leaves, and flower clusters. Discard any flaking or damaged parts. Once sorted, thoroughly wash the wild spinach several times. Blanch them in boiling water for about a minute, then rinse them in cold water and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. If there are any remaining hard stalks, remove them from the mix.

Dough Mixing: Once the root is ready, the oats have cooled, and the wild spinach is blanched, it’s time to start mixing the dough. In a large bowl, measure out water at a warm, hand temperature. Add in wild spinach and give it a whirl with a hand mixer until part of the wild spinach is pureed, while some pieces remain in larger shreds. Next, weigh out the active sourdough starter and mix it into the liquid. Add the flour, organic honey, and blanched oats to the bowl. Mix everything until the dough is smooth, without any dry spots. Cover the dough and let it rise in an airtight container for 45 minutes.

Incorporating Salt and Oil: After the initial rise, weigh out the coarse sea salt and cold-pressed organic rapeseed oil. Poke holes in the dough with your fingers to help distribute the salt and oil evenly. Stretch and fold the dough until it feels smooth. Although you’ll still feel the coarse salt, it will dissolve into the dough as it continues to rise. Let the dough rest covered for at least 30 minutes. Over the next two hours, stretch and fold the dough three times, allowing it to rest for 40 minutes between each fold. This process helps strengthen the gluten network. You can add a few extra folds if desired, spaced 30–40 minutes apart. After this, it’s time to laminate the dough.

Laminating the Dough: Lamination involves spreading the dough as thin as possible on your work surface, taking care not to tear it. Wet your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Fold the dough over itself from the edges inward, creating a smooth, compact shape. Twist the dough ball gently on the surface to tighten the shape. Return the dough to the covered bowl to rest before proceeding to the final steps.

Shaping and Rising: After approximately 3.5 to 4 hours from when you first mixed the dough, divide it into two parts and pre-shape them. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes, then give each part its final shape. Place the shaped loaves into a baking tray lined with baking paper and dust them with rice flour to prevent sticking. Cover the loaves and let them rise at room temperature for another 30 minutes. Transfer the loaves to a 4℃ refrigerator, ideally wrapped to prevent moisture loss. Let the loaves rest and ferment in the fridge for 12–16 hours or longer.

Baking: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 250℃. If you have a steam oven, activate the steam function to help the bread rise properly before the surface dries out. If not, place a steel tray in the bottom of the oven and add boiling water to generate steam. Alternatively, you can bake the bread in a large pot or casserole dish, which naturally retains moisture, eliminating the need for added steam. Once the oven is preheated and humid, carefully turn the bread out onto a baking sheet. Make an incision in the surface with a razor blade to control how it expands. If using a pot or dome, place the bread in, cover with the lid, and bake for 20 minutes at 250℃. After 20 minutes, remove the lid and reduce the oven temperature to 220℃. Continue baking for another 20 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. For a darker bake, you can lower the oven temperature sooner or move the bread to a lower rack.

Resting and Storing: Once baked, transfer the bread to a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least an hour. This resting period helps the internal moisture redistribute evenly. Once the bread has cooled completely, store it at room temperature, wrapped in a baking cloth.

Tips for Success:

Set a timer for each stage to keep track of the process. After about 4 hours, the bread should be ready for its cold rest, and it can typically be baked after 18–20 hours.

If needed, you can refrigerate the dough unshaped and shape it later, even after chilling.

Baking two loaves at once in a home oven can be tricky. One solution is to bake one loaf in a pan and the other in an oblong basket, fitting both on the same tray. – Consider double-slicing the bread: make an initial slice, then another 5 minutes after baking begins to help the bread open up fully.

In the Maaleipä Challenge Jella Bertell’s Wild Spinach Sourdough Bread received first honorary mention. The jury described the bread in the following way:

This special mention of the Maaleipä Challenge goes to a bread that brings farming and foraging together, incorporates so-called weeds into our diet and results in a beautiful sourdough using a diverse number of ancient grains. A loaf with green tones and wonderful aroma.