Bread & Co.
Altamura typical bread
Ingredients:
- 600 gr of re-milled durum wheat semolina (known as durum wheat)
- 400 cl of water
- 12 gr of brewer’s yeast
- 15 gr of table salt
Preparation:
Melt the yeast in a couple of cold water spoons and subsequently knead it with flour. Once amalgamated, let it settle for about half an hour, until it is well swollen.
On a pastry board, arrange flour giving it the classic “fountain” shape and spill yeast in the middle, gradually adding water and kneading it. It is important to add salt only after having well amalgamated the yeast (so that the two ingredients are not in contact) and knead for about half an hour; afterwards rapidly knead to interrupt the yeasting process and let it settle for about ten minutes. Then stretch the dough creating a rectangle shape and roll it up on itself. With a well sharp-edged knife, make three or four oblique cuts on the surface, abundantly sprinkle flour on the dough and leave it to stand for still 30 minutes. Bake at 220 gr for 30/40 minutes and make the loaf cold, preferably wrapping it in a couple of cotton cloths.
Focaccia
Ingredients:
- 500 gr of flour
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium potatoes
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 and 1/2 brewer’s yeast
- Garlic
- Oregano
- Cooking salt
Preparation:
Boil and peel potatoes. In a glass of water melt the yeast. Arrange flour and crush potatoes inside it. Add yeast, salt and begin to knead adding other flour until dough is ready. Then give it a ball shape and put it on a cloth sprinkled with flour. Make a cross on the dough, close everything and let the dough rise under a cover for about two hours.
Oil a baking pan and stretch the dough adding further oil; then oil the dough, slightly pressing with the fingertip.
Arrange there half crushed tomatoes, oregano, salt and bake for 5 minutes at 240°. Then reduce the temperature to 180° and continue cooking for another half an hour.
Panzerotti
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of “00” flour
- 1 spoon full of salt
- 1 spoon full of sugar
- 3 spoons of extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 brewer’s yeast cube – 25 gr
- 3 spoons of white wine
- 4 big mozzarelle
- 250 gr of peeled tomatoes
Preparation:
Create a flour well and pour spill sugar, oil, wine salt and yeast (previously melted in two glasses of lukewarm water). Accurately knead and add lukewarm water until you obtain a quite soft and elastic dough. Create a little bread, cover it with a damp cloth and let it immediately rise (for about 30 minutes).
Subsequently work the dough for some minutes. After rising, take the bread, still work it for a while and derive some balls as big as an orange. Cover them with a damp cloth and let them rise for other 30 minutes. From each ball, create some 15 cm-diameter disks. Into half a disk arrange a bit of mozzarella and of peeled tomatoes. Close them creating crescent shaped moons and carefully close the borders (a fork can help you doing this). Abundantly fry them in extra-virgin olive oil until they brown. Strain and serve them.
Taralli
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of “00” flour
- 300 cl of dry white wine
- 30 gr of table salt
- 250 cl of extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Knead everything together: flour, salt and wine until you obtain an elastic and homogeneous pasta; let them settle covered by a cloth for about 20 minutes.
In a possibly medium-sized saucepan, bring water to a boil where you will add a spoon of salt.
From the dough create some sticks with a diameter of about 1 cm and a length of about 8/10, roll them giving them a circle shape (press them with a finger so that you seal them).
Take about ten rolled sticks time by time and immerse them into boiling water; do not forget to take them off when they surface. Arrange them on a cloth one next to the other and leave them to dry for some minutes.
Oil a baking pan, put Taralli there and go away.
Put them into a preheated oven at 200° for about 40 minutes.
It is possible to flavour them as you like with fennel seeds, sesame, chilli pepper, oregano, dehydrated onion scales.
Apulian Friselline sops
Ingredients:
- 500 gr of flour
- 20 gr of salt
- ½ brewer’s yeast cube
- 300 gr. of water
Preparation:
Knead all the ingredients until the dough becomes smooth.
Then let the dough settle for about 15 minutes.
Create little breads (50 gr each) and give them shapes of closed Taralli. Leave them to rise for 1 hour. We advise to arrange them directly in a baking tin. Then bake at 200° (remembering to preheat the oven).
Take the pan out of the oven and divide “Taralli” into two parts. Already put everything into the oven and leave the breads when they brown. Dress as you like.
Dressed Frise sops
Ingredients:
- Durum wheat “Frise” toased breads
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cloves of garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Oregano
- Salt
Preparation:
Rub the hardest part of every Frisa toasted breads with a clove of garlic. Dampen them with water: it is also possible to soak with tap water for not more than 30 seconds each. Then dress them with oil, salt, tomatoes and oregano.
