I really like using local ingredients in my bread. One thing we don’t have any shortage of out here is red chile. I use red chile powder on just about everything but hadn’t used it in a bread yet. Adding some piñon (pine nuts) also gave it a local twist. The red chile powder gave a little hint of heat but it wasn’t enough to scare away people who don’t like spicy.

Schedule: I based this loaf off of my sourdough schedule.

Since this is a 100% naturally leavened bread, I created a levain with my sourdough starter that was last fed 24 hours prior. This levain provides enough for 3 loaves of bread, plus a little extra to keep your starter going.

30 minutes before mixing the levain, salt and other ingredients into the dough, I performed an autolyse by mixing the water and flour together.

Ingredients:

Levain

Started at 8am with the following ingredients. Mix everything together and loosely cover and let it ferment for about 8 hours.

• 50g unfed sourdough starter (last feeding was 24 hours prior)
• 200g filtered water @ 85-90’F
• 200g King Arthur bread flour
• 50g King Arthur whole wheat flour

Dough

• 410g King Arthur bread flour
• 320g filtered water @ 90-95’F
• 108g levain
• 11g sea salt
• 1 tsp New Mexico Red Chile powder (hot)
• 60g toasted pine nuts (plus some more for topping the loaf)

Method:

After mixing the dough, I performed 4 stretch and folds within the first 2-4 hours.

Before proofing, I added some toasted pine nuts to the banneton and then put the loaf on top to proof. Doing this helps the topping adhere to the loaf so it doesn’t just fall off.

I baked the loaf in a preheated dutch oven at 450’F for 38 minutes covered, then removed the lid of the dutch oven and baked for an additional 14 minutes.

Result:

Like I mentioned above, the red chile gives just enough flavor to let you know it’s there but isn’t anywhere close to being considered spicy. The pine nuts provide a great flavor addition and are extremely distinctive. I took this loaf home to my family and they loved it. We had it with dipping oil and as toast.