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 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.

Durum Bread

I have wanted to try making this Durum Bread for quite some time. I love the nutty flavor of durum flour, but I'm sometimes defeated by the fragility of the dough.

Durum flour has a high protein level, and is typically used for making pasta. It does not behave like bread or all purpose flour. However, it does make amazingly flavorful bread, as long as you pay attention and make sure you are developing adequate strength in the dough.

The flour can be found in Indian markets or online. You may even be able to find it at a big box store. I get mine from King Arthur Flour, as well as Surfas Culinary District (we are lucky enough to have the mothership here). Don't confuse it with the more coarsely ground semolina. Durum is finely ground.

Panmarino - Italian Rosemary Bread

Panmarino. Italian rosemary bread. Rosemary and olive oil and a biga to develop flavor make some pretty awesome loaves.

Ciabatta with Biga

This ciabatta formula really pushes the hydration limit. The dough is super wet, resulting in a super airy dough, and because of the biga that ferments for 12 hours, the flavor is pretty amazing.

White Bread and Skillet Pizza with 80% Biga

Why is this bread called white bread with 80% biga? Because 80% of the dough is biga.

That clears it up, right? No? All righty then. I guess I'm going to get all bread geek on you.

Biga you ask? A biga is a a stiff dough preferment. What does that mean? Many Italian bread recipes call for a biga, which consists of flour and water, and a small amount of yeast. It is left out to ferment overnight and develop flavor.

The next day, the biga is mixed in with just a little bit more flour, water, salt, and yeast to make a 75% hydration dough. The resulting bread has a super thin crispy crust that crackles for several minutes after removing the bread from the oven. It has a wonderful flavor and stays fresh for several days.

You can make two loaves from this recipe, or make individual pizzas from half of the dough. If you choose to make pizzas, divide half of the dough into three pieces, form them into balls, cover them with oiled plastic wrap, and refrigerate them overnight or up to two days. I placed mine into plastic bags that had been sprayed with spray oil (see this photo on Instagram).

I decided to try the Skillet Pizza method from Ken Forkish's book, Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza.

This method calls for placing the stretched dough into a cold cast iron skillet, topping it, and placing it into a very hot oven for about 20 minutes. While it is my quest to master the method and flavor of Napolitano pizza, this was pretty darn fabulous, and so much easier than the pizza peel high wire act.

Of course I had leftover pizza for breakfast.

White Bread with 80% Biga

Ingredients

Biga

800 g unbleached all purpose flour

544 g 80 degree F water

1/16 tsp (.64 g) instant yeast

Final Dough

200 g unbleached all purpose flour

206 g 105 degree F water
22 g fine sea salt

2 g instant yeast

All of the biga

Instructions

1. Mix all of the biga ingredients in a large bowl or 6 quart tub by pinching and stirring the ingredients by hand. Cover the tub with plastic wrap and leave out overnight, about 12 to 14 hours. The dough should have about tripled in size. 
2. To make the final dough, mix the flour, water, salt, and yeast together in a large bowl or 12 quart tub by hand. Add the biga and mix by hand. Keep a bowl of water nearby to wet your hand to keep the dough from sticking. Alternate between folding and pinching the dough. The whole process should take just a few minutes. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.
3. Stretch and fold the dough at 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 90 minutes. Let the dough rise for another 60 to 90 minutes, until it has risen to about 2 1/2 times its original size. 
4. Generously flour 2 (or one if you are making pizza with half of the dough) proofing baskets. I used a mix of all purpose and brown rice flour. You can also use a mixing bowl lined with a lint free kitchen towel that has been sprayed with oil and heavily floured. 
5. With a wet dough scraper or wet hands, loosen the dough from the sides of the bucket and gently turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into two even pieces (to make pizza, reserve half of the dough for pizza, see below). 
6. Shape the dough into boules, creating a taut skin over the top. Place the shaped dough into each basket, seam side down. 
7. Spray the top of the dough with spray oil, and cover with plastic wrap. 
8. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F with two (or one if you are making pizza with the rest of the dough) empty covered Dutch ovens placed on the middle rack. 
9. Allow the dough to rise about 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy. How to know if the loaves are ready? Here is Ken Forkish, the author, demonstrating the "finger dent test."
10. When you are ready to bake, cut parchment into two 9 inch by 15+ inch pieces. 
11. Remove the Dutch ovens from the oven and remove the tops. One loaf at a time, place the parchment over the dough and place a plate over it. Flip the dough over, remove the basket, and lift and place the loaf in the Dutch oven by using the parchment as a sling (leave the paper under the dough). Cover the Dutch oven and place it in the hot oven. Repeat with the second loaf. 
12. Bake covered for 30 minutes, and then remove the Dutch ovens from the hot oven, uncover, and place the loaves on a baking sheet. Be careful not to burn yourself! Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the interior of the bread reaches 205 to 210 degrees F and the bread is a deep brown. My loaves were ready sooner, so check early. 
13. Cool completely on a wire rack. 

Skillet Pizza

1. Divide half of the dough into three parts, form into balls, spray with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap or place into oiled plastic bags, and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.
2. To make the pizza, preheat your oven to 525 degrees F, or as high as it will go.
3. Generously flour a work surface with flour and place the dough ball onto the surface. Flip the dough over to cover the top with flour. 
4. With your fingertips, press the dough into a disk. Stretch the dough out into a 12 inch disk and place it into a 9 inch cold cast iron skillet (it will shrink back. 
5. Top with your favorite sauce, cheese, and toppings (I used about 1/3 C of fresh sauce, 3 ounces of mozzarella, and about 8 slices of pepperoni), and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, slide it onto a cutting board with tongs, and slice. Enjoy!!

Recipe adapted from Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza.

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Transitional Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

This transitional whole wheat bread is perfect for when you want to get your whole grains, but still want a bread that is mild enough for sandwiches. The loaf is 56% whole wheat flour and 44% bread flour, and the recipe includes milk, honey, and just a little bit of butter.

The dough is super easy to work with, and rises beautifully both prior to baking as well as in the oven. Ah, the joys of "oven spring," where I sit on a stool in front of the oven window to stare at my baking bread.

The bread requires a little bit of planning. The day before baking, you mix both a soaker of whole wheat and milk, and a biga of bread flour, water, and yeast.

Soaker? Biga? Biga is an Italian term for a preferment... meaning you take some flour and water and add a little big of yeast and let it develop flavor overnight or maybe a bit longer. It can also be referred to as a sponge. A soaker is a mixture of grains and/or seeds with a liquid left overnight in order to soften the grains/seeds and develop more flavor.  Once the soaker and biga have been given enough time to develop, they are combined with the rest of the dough ingredients to make the bread.

To view and print the recipe, go my post on the Grain Mill Wagon site.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Grain Mill Wagon Challenge and received a WonderMill grain mill as part of the challenge. And, yes, I milled my own whole wheat flour! How cool is that?

For the recipe, click here.

Semolina Rounds with Black Sesame and Golden Flax Seeds

This is a lovely bread. The yellow color from the durum flour is so appealing. I love the flavor.

I found this recipe in the book, Amy's Bread, and I have made it several times. It's one of my all time favorites. The loaves are gorgeous. The original recipe calls for just the black sesame seeds, but I threw in some flax seeds just because.

While coarsely ground semolina flour is easy to find around here, finely ground durum semolina is not, so I buy mine from King Arthur Flour. Another source is Giusto's in San Francisco. I'm sure there are other sources .... In fact, Little India in Artesia is right in my back yard. I've even heard that Costco carries a durum flour called Mumbai Gold. Hmmmm. I'll have to check these out.

Semolina Rounds with Black Sesame and Golden Flax Seeds

Adapted from Amy's Bread. (Get the book, you will love it!)

Biga

Makes 14 ounces (more than you'll need)

7 ounces warm water (105 to 115 degrees F

1/8 t. active dry yeast

8 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir the yeast in the water to dissolve. Let it sit for about 3 minutes. Add the flour, and mix with the paddle attachment on low for about a minute. Place it into a container and let it rise for 6 to 8 hours, until it has more than doubled. Use the biga while it is still growing and is not deflating. You can retard the biga by letting it rise at room temperature for an hour, refrigerating it overnight, removing it, and letting it sit at room temperature for three to four hours. 

Semolina Round

2 ounces warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 tsp active dry yeast
12.5 ounces room temperature water
10 ounces biga
18.35 ounces/520 grams/4 cups durum flour
2 ounces medium ground yellow cornmeal
1/4 C black sesame seeds, or a combination of other seeds
1 T plus 1 tsp Kosher salt
Extra cornmeal for sprinkling

Mix the yeast and the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and let stand for 3 minutes.

Add the rest of the water and the biga and mix with the paddle attachment.

Whisk the durum, cornmeal, 2 T of the seeds, and the salt together.

Add the flour mixture to the stand mixer bowl and mix with a dough whisk or a large spoon until the dough forms a sticky mass.

Knead the dough with the dough hook for 5 to 7 minutes. Add additional flour if needed, but err on the side of less flour. The dough should be soft and supple.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.

Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and let it rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Divide the dough into two equal halves.

Gently shape each piece into a rectangle and then roll them into cylinders like a baguette. Roll the cylinders under your hands to elongate them until you get a 32 inch rope. Coil the ropes.

Place the loaves side by side on one sheet pan sized piece of parchment (on top of a pizza peel or a cookie sheet so you can transfer the loaves to the oven) that has been sprinkled with cornmeal with 3 to 4 inches between the loaves. Spray the grooves of the loaves with water, and and place the remaining seeds evenly into the grooves.

Cover the loaves with oiled plastic wrap and let them rise for 45 to 90 minutes, until almost proofed, but not fully proofed.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a baking stone on the second to lowest rack. Place a broiler pan on the lowest rack and fill a mister with water. Boil one cup of water.

Mist the loaves with water, slide the parchment with the loaves onto the baking stone, and pour the boiling water into the broiler pan. Cover your oven window with a dish towel so you don't break it!

Spray the oven walls and the loaves with water and close the door. Spray again every 60 second three more times, quickly shutting the oven door each time.

Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes more.

Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

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