Italian Sourdough Starter – Lievito Mardre is a very unique starter in low hydration which is done to reduce the acidity by feeding it with more flour and less water.
It is the ideal starter for baking breads, baking good, croissants, Challah, Panettone which give a sweet & less sour flavor in the bake.
So here is how I make my Lievito Madre.
In a small bowl mix together the 30 grams water at 78F add in 30 grams sourdough starter and 60 grams bread flour mix well so all the flour is well incorporated knead to a smooth ball and insert to a small jar cover loosely and place on the counter at room temp 75-78F
to ferment for 6 hour.
Repeat this step 4-5 times, take 30 gram of the fermented starter and feed again 30 grams water and 60 grams bread flour.
Now the starter is ready for preparing the Lievito Madre
Step 1: take a bowl with 2 cups cold water add in 2 teaspoon sugar mix well add in the starter and let it sit for 15-20 minute. Strain the starter from the water and set aside. **The reason we are giving the starter a bath with sugar so we will end up with a pure yeast and remove acetic acid and bring oxygen to the starter.
Step 2: In a clean small bowl add in 30 grams of the starter with 30 grams water at 78F mix in 60 grams bread flour mix well and knead well on a dry surface roll the starter and fold it a few times to get a smooth dough like, fold both ends and roll again to a long strip, starting from one end roll it tight to a log (Swiss roll)
Transfer to a tall jar (triple the capacity) and add water just to cover the roll. cover loosely and place on the counter at Room temp (76-78)
let it ferment for 4-5 hours or until the starter float.
Strain the starter and refresh it by repeating same amount starter, water and bread flour.
Step 3:
Increase the amount of starter to 50 grams + 50 grams water at 78F + 100 grams bread flour. Knead smooth then roll same way like before.let it ferment same way
and time.
At this point the Lievito Madre is ready for the mix.
The Lievito Madre starter can be stored in the fridge when it’s not used.
Feed it once a week.
If you bake daily keep the starter on the counter at Room temp and feed it once a day at same ratio 1:1:2
To use the starter from the fridge, pull out an let it come to room temp about 1-2 hours, discard the top of the starter and feed 1:1:2
For example: 50 grams starter 50 grams water 100 grams flour
let it ferment 3-4 hours.
Enjoy,
Mwahhhhhh
Shuly Karasin
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