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Jul 6, 2017

Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are like mini ciabattas... airy, crunchy, and perfect for soaking up sauces.

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are like mini ciabattas... airy, crunchy, and perfect for soaking up sauces.

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are absolutely wonderful for deli, pressed Italian, or meatball sandwiches. I also love them sliced in half. toasted, and topped with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni for quick mini bread pizzas.

If you are ever asked to bring dinner rolls to a potluck, these are the ones to bring. Just bring them the day they are made and reheat them in your host's oven to re-crisp. Even if you can't reheat them, they will still be chewy and delicious.

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are like mini ciabattas... airy, crunchy, and perfect for soaking up sauces.

To make these, be sure to build in enough time to make the biga the day before.

Biga? It's a preferment that is allowed to sit overnight to develop flavor. You just mix up some flour, water, and yeast, and let it rise and fall, and get really bubbly.

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are like mini ciabattas... airy, crunchy, and perfect for soaking up sauces.

The final dough for these rolls is really sticky, but do not be tempted to add more flour. The beauty of these rolls is their open and airy crumb thanks to the super wet dough.

To work with sticky dough, keep a bowl of water nearby in which to dip your fingers to keep them from sticking. You can also spray your fingers with spray oil to keep the dough from sticking. If you are working with wet dough that is coated with flour, coating your fingers with the same flour also works, as long as you are careful not to work the flour into the risen dough.

You will love these rolls!!



Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls Recipe

Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

For the Biga:

  • 6 1/4 ounces unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 ounce white whole wheat flour
  • 8 ounces water
  • 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

Final Dough:

  • All of the biga
  • 10 1/2 ounces unbleached all purpose flour
  • 4 ounces water
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

Instructions

  1. Biga: The night before making the rolls, mix all of the biga ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12 to 20 hours.
  2. Final Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the biga along with the rest of the ingredients, and mix on low with the dough hook for about four minutes. Increase the speed to medium, and mix for four minutes more.
  3. Scrape the dough into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until very puffy, about 1 to 2 hours.
  4. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface. Stretch it into a 6 inch by 12 inch rectangle. Using a bench knife or pizza wheel, cut the dough into 8 three inch square pieces. Place each square, floured side up, onto a piece of 18 inch by 13 inch parchment paper. Cover with a damp cloth or oiled plastic wrap.
  5. Preheat the oven with a baking stone on an upper middle rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Let the rolls rise for about 45 minutes, until puffy.
  6. Slide the rolls, parchment and all, onto the baking stone with a pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 8 Rolls
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

These Chewy Italian Dinner Rolls are like mini ciabattas... airy, crunchy, and perfect for soaking up sauces.

Would you like to comment?

  1. Love the Italian buns Karen I must try them I do love my Italian bread that's my heritage

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I think you would like these a lot!

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  2. Those look awesome! Biga is the poolish, the sponge, right? Is it also possible to bake these on a cookie sheet or baking pan? Does it sound like it could work?
    Fantastic work (again) Karen!:) Loved them! xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can definitely bake these on a cookie sheet. Biga is the same as poolish, but the Italian word for it =)

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    2. Thanx for clarifying Karen! Have a great week ahead! xoxo

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  3. They are adorable! I wish we had some guests or kids or teenagers around to consume more bread, I rarely bake these days, just Phil and I, and we don't eat that much bread, it's almost a weekend thing now.

    but it's ok, I definitely bake vicariously through you ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's just the two of us, but I do give a lot away (and freeze a lot). I find bread baking so therapeutic. Sometimes I'll bring a loaf to work with butter or olive oil. Also, my husband eats a lot of sandwiches!

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    2. I've been wondering if I could take bread to the department. Indeed, if I take a small bowl of olive oil and butter, people might enjoy it.... hummmmm... you are giving me ideas! Not only Sweet Mondays, but Bread Mondays! HA!

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    3. It's always a huge hit when I bring it in!

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  4. They look great , wish you had a pic of one cut in half so I could see the crumb , regardless , I will be trying these tomorrow , thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jim. The interior has an even slightly open crumb. Not quite as airy as ciabatta.

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  5. These sound absolutely PERFECT Karen!!! Can not wait to try!

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  6. These are perfect to have stocked in the freezer!

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  7. I have a Kitchenaid mixer. What is the speed (2?) for Low..... Is it 4 for Medium?
    Sylvia

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    Replies
    1. Low for me is one or two and medium for me is 5 (between 4 and 6 on the mixer).

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  8. Hello, I don’t have a “baking stone” will they turn out on a regular baking sheet? Thanks

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