1. To make the levain: Mix all of the levain ingredients together and place in a covered container with room for the levain to grow. It will almost double in size, and will take about 12 hours to ripen (ferment) at room temperature (70°F). When perfectly ripened, there’ll be large bubbles (mostly below the surface) creating a somewhat rippled effect. It’ll appear almost fluffy. If the levain is covered with a froth of tiny bubbles, it’s a bit over-ripened; but don’t worry, you can still use it.
2. To make the dough: Mix and then knead together all of the dough ingredients, including the levain, to make a smooth, supple, and not overly sticky dough.
3. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise for 1 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.
4. Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into 8″ logs. Place the logs in two lightly greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ bread pans. Cover the pans with lightly greased plastic wrap (or a couple of plastic shower caps), and let the loaves rise until they’ve crowned about 1″ over the rim of the pan, about 1 to 2 hours.

Look at all this from just a few moments work!  I almost injured my arm I was so enthusiastically patting myself on the back.

This recipe yielded such a beautiful soft sandwich loaf for sure, but it was these rolls that stole the show.  The dough is tender and incredibly flavourful.

It’s the same principal as a cinnamon bun – but savoury!  You can fill the roll with anything you like.  Today I used Black Forest ham, cut into small squares, and spicy Calabrese sausage cut into little strips along with kalamata olives and diced yellow pepper.

Today I got frustrated because I wasn’t able to use tomato sauce like the pizza roll I envisioned.  So, Plan B …… I defrosted one of my basil almond pesto blocks, stirred in a bit more olive oil and spread that over the dough.  In the end, it was the happiest of Plan B’s ever!  In fact I got so excited by how good it was smelling that I rolled it all up, forgetting to add cheese.  Oh well, another Plan B – cheese sprinkled over the top before baking.

A mixture of aged white cheddar and mozzarella graced the top of these rolls right before baking and it was just fabulous.

I’ve been reading a lot of the King Arthur Flour website recipes during my sourdough explorations, and this recipe also came from there.  We don’t have any of that particular flour around here, but I wonder how much difference that makes?  We do have Rogers Flour locally and that is what I have been using with great success.