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* Breads, Pizzas, Savory Pies, and Sandwiches |
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Buono come il pane, "good as bread," is an old Italian way of describing someone or something very special. It also illustrates how important is bread. Every Italian knows that bread is the ultimate, the best, and nothing could be better than bread. Whether it is the rosetta, a sectioned round roll that is all crust and little crumb, or the scaletta, ladder-shaped, golden, hard-wheat loaves from Sicily baked in ovens fired with almond shells, Italian breads have wonderful character and flavor. Every region has a distinctive style. Tuscan and Umbrian bread is made without salt, which takes some getting used to. The bread from Altamura in Puglia is pale golden and practically a national treasure. People in Rome and places to the north pay premium prices to get it. Roman bread is moist inside and full of holes, with a crunchy, toasty brown crust. Organize all of your own recipes with the Cook'n Recipe Software. Watch and see how easy it is!
Then there are the flatbreads: pizza, focaccia, piadina, and all the other delicious variations. Every region has its favorite. Naples is proud of its reputation as the birthplace of the modern pizza, while the Genovese take credit for focaccia. Instead of having the flavoring on top, in southern Italy, savory pies made from two layers of bread or pizza dough baked around a filling of vegetables, meats, or cheese are popular, eaten as a snack or a full meal. The recipes that follow are just a few of the many possibilities. Few Italians bake bread at home, because every neighborhood has a local forno ("oven"), as the bread bakery is called, where fresh bread is baked several times a day. The breads are made with slowly risen doughs that create complex flavors and good texture and chewiness. Because they are baked in ovens that reach temperatures higher than those in home kitchens, they have crisp crunchy crusts. The recipes in this chapter work well without a lot of special equipment. However, if you enjoy making yeast breads, it would be worthwhile to invest in a baking stone or unglazed baking tiles. A heavy-duty mixer equipped with a dough hook or a large capacity food processor makes short work of mixing a heavy, sticky dough. A bread machine can also be used to mix and raise the dough, but is not appropriate for baking these types of breads. I have also included recipes for savory tarts made with cheese and vegetables. These are good for a first course or with a salad for a whole meal. Sandwiches are popular for snacks and light meals all over Italy. The Milanese have invented the paninoteca, a sandwich shop where you can order your heart's desire of combinations on all sorts of bread, to be served toasted or not. The paninoteca is especially popular with younger people, who stop by for sandwiches and beer. In other parts of the country, you can eat a panino made with white bread, focaccia, or rolls. The Romans love the thin, crustless tramezzino (triangle-cut) sandwich, while in Bologna the sandwiches are made on rosette, the local crusty rolls. On my way home from Italy, I always leave time for a stop at the airport caffè for a prosciutto and arugula sandwich portare via, "to take away," and enjoy it on the plane home. BREADS Homestyle Bread Herb Bread Marches-Style Cheese Bread Golden Corn Rolls Black Olive Bread Stromboli Bread Walnut Cheese Bread Tomato Rolls Country Brioche FLATBREADS AND BREADSTICKS Sardinian Music-Paper Bread Red Onion Flatbread White Wine Flatbread Sun-Dried Tomato Flatbread Roman Potato Flatbread Griddle Breads from Emilia-Romagna Breadsticks Fennel Rings Almond and Black Pepper Rings PIZZAS AND TURNOVERS Homestyle Pizza Neapolitan-Style Pizza Dough Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil Pizza Tomato, Garlic, and Oregano Pizza Pizza with Wild Mushrooms Calzoni Anchovy Fritters Tomato and Cheese Turnovers SAVORY PIES Easter Pie Sicilian Swordfish Torte Green Onion Pie Escarole Pie Savory Pie Pastry Spinach Ricotta Tart Leek Tart ITALIAN SANDWICHES (PANINI) Mozzarella, Basil, and Roasted Pepper Sandwiches Spinach and Robiola Sandwiches Riviera Sandwich Tuna and Roasted Pepper Triangle Sandwiches Prosciutto and Fig Triangle Sandwiches From "1,000 Italian Recipes." Copyright 2004 by Michele Scicolone. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sign up for our free monthly newsletter, with recipes, cooking tips and more! |
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