Italian bread is famous for being based exclusively on flour and water, yet this recipe, typical of nothern Italy, includes olive oil in its dough. The presence of fats creates a very soft bread, which is easy to be preserved in the foggy climate of Po valley. Moreover, olive oil can be replaced by butter or suet. In the last case, suet helps to clean the mouth if accompanying cold cuts like salami or prosciutto. It sounds incredibly odd, but fats “refresh” your mouth.

Anyway, if you prefer to make simple but genuine appetizers, you can bake these little amuse bouche, and spread them, still warm, with vodka butter and smoked salmon.

NB: this is a small quantity, just enough to make these bite-sized snacks for a party. If you double the ingredients you can make a very tasty bread, which can last even a week, even longer if you keep it in a plastic bag in the fridge and heat it up in the oven for a few minutes.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cooking Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes (+ 2 hours for leavening) | Yield: Makes 6  servings.

Ingredients

•  1 cup (250 g) bread flour
•  1 tsp (6 g) active brewer’s yeast
• 1 tsp (6 g) sea salt
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (35 ml) olive oil
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (20 g) sugar
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp (150 ml) cold water

Preparation

Add both flours, yeasts, and water to the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead it with the dough hook in place. You can also do it by hand in a bowl, but the process takes around 14 minutes of work.

Add the sugar a bit at a time, and when it is well kneaded, add the salt, again in several batches, slowly. Finally, add the oil, slowly. When the dough sticks to the dough hook in a ball, remove it and knead it on a surface sprinkled with flour.

Place the dough in a floured bowl, cover with cling film, and let it rise for 45 minutes. Times vary depending on the time of the year and how warm the kitchen is. At my house, the winter temperature is around 19 C (66 F), so I prefer to move the bowl to a warm oven with the light on.

After the dough has doubled in volume, roll it with the rolling pin, and cut out small circles.  I use a sherry glass, 4 cm in diameter. Roll all the pieces in the palm of your hands, until you create little balls. Make sure to use the remnants of the cuts, or you’ll have to knead them again and make them rise.

As you make the balls, put the on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover with cling film and leave them to rise for 40/60 minutes.

Discard the cling film and cook in a pre-heated convection oven for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 F (190 C).

A necessary premise to an Italian article about frying is that the most common technique is shallow frying: most Italian fried dishes are in small pieces, whereas deep frying is used mainly in certain specific dishes like “arancini siciliani” and the famous “carciofi alla giudia”. However, these are somewhat exceptions.

The first common rule of frying is to bear the oil’s temperature in mind, as it must vary according to the type and size of the food we want to fry.

Semi-hot:

from 130° to 145° C (from 270° to 300° F): for vegetables, portioned fish, meats, and sweets. This not excessive temperature cooks foods thoroughly, while keeping them crisp and golden on the outside.

Hot:

from 155° to 170° C (from 310° to 340° F): to fry foods which have already been partially cooked like potato croquettes, or foods coated with batter, dredged with flour, whisked egg or breaded. Upon contact with the oil, the coating will become hard and browned, preventing the inner part to seep out. Like fried custard (link) or cutlets à la Milanese.

Very hot:

from 175° to 190° C (from 350° to 375° F): for very thin sweets that only require a few minutes of cooking, like cenci (link), for example.

Nevertheless, oil temperatures can experience some slight variations due to the frying method and the size of food pieces. Cenci, for example, can tolerate higher temperatures than tortelli (sweet ravioli); smaller pieces can be fried at 180° C (350° F), while larger pieces should be fried at 170°-175° C in order to ensure that the food is cooked thoroughly without overcooking the coating. In fact, the oil’s proper temperature creates a light crust that prevents the oils from seeping into the food while favouring even and complete cooking.

In general, the best advice is to have the foods ready to be cooked and the oil at the right temperature to prevent the foods from being exposed to air. In fact, contact with air creates a surface skin, which prevents the food from reaching the correct temperature and the subsequent partial or complete lack of leavening, typical of sweets prepared too soon. There must be enough oil in the frying pan to enable the foods to float without coming in contact with the bottom, which would cause imperfect cooking.