L'Italo-Americano

LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano the right way, you should follow. Called sa cotta, it i n v o l v e d a l w a y s t h r e e w o m e n e i t h e r r e l a t e d o r connected through commu- nity ties (friends or neigh- b o r s , f o r i n s t a n c e ) , w h o would help one another in the preparation and often p a i d t h e f a v o r b a c k w i t h cheese or olive oil. Sa cotta would start at sunrise, when the women would mix water and flour together to make a dough, which they would then knead patiently until it became firm and smooth. Then, the dough was left to rest for a few hours inside special terra-cotta contai- ners, then cut into round, regular pieces, which were flattened with a rolling pin until they reached a diame- ter of about 40 cm (16 in) and only 2 to 3 mm in thick- ness (0.08 in). The disks were then baked in a stone oven at extremely high tem- perature (between 800 and 900 F), which caused them t o p u f f u p . T h e w o m e n would then take them out of the oven and separate the two thin, puffed up layers with a pairing knife, obtai- n i n g t w o c r u n c h y b r e a d sheets. All the sheets were t h e n p i l e d o n e u p o n t h e o t h e r , d i v i d e d b y l i n e n sheets until they were com- pletely cool. Once cold, the carasatu- ra process, which gives this bread its name, began. The bread sheets were baked a second time to obtain their t y p i c a l g o l d e n c o l o r a n d crisp texture. In time, salt and yeast were added to the old, traditional recipe: this meant the dough had to rest for more hours before being rolled out and baked. Pane carasau is a very versatile ingredient: you can have it just as it is and enjoy i t s i n c r e d i b l e t e x t u r e , o r make pane frattau and pane guttiau with it. For pane frattau, just quickly wet the bread in some boiling water or broth, then dress it with tomato sauce, a fried egg and some grated cheese. If pane guttiau strikes better your fancy, then only add some drops of olive oil and a pinch of salt, stick it in the oven for a couple of minutes, and voilà. I f y o u w a n t t o h a v e i t with deli meats or cheeses, you can quickly wet it with s o m e w a t e r o r b r o t h ( i t shouldn't absorb too much liquid, so be careful!) and go ahead with your feast: wet- ting it makes it soft enough to be rolled around whatever you want to have it with. Now, let's make it! T r a d i t i o n a l r e c i p e (without yeast) 1 k g ( 2 l b s ) o f d u r u m wheat flour Water enough to make a firm and smooth dough with the amount of flour above. Mix together the ingre- dients and knead until you o b t a i n a s m o o t h d o u g h . Divide it in smaller sections and roll it into a round, very thin (not more than 2 or 3 mm, or 0.08 in) circle. Let the dough disks rest for a couple of hours, making sure you cover them with a woo- len cloth. Cook them one by one for a handful of seconds at the highest temperature your oven can reach, until they puff up. Take them out of the oven, divide the base sheet of the disk from the puffed up sheet, let them all cool, then bake them again for a couple of minutes in the oven to make them nice and crunchy. Recipe with yeast (as proposed by La Cucina Italiana) 500 gr (1 lbs) of durum wheat flour 300 ml of water a pinch of salt 5 gr (0.18 oz) of yeast - Turn on the oven and pre-heat it at 220C or 430F, leaving a large baking tray in it to heat up. Mix the yeast in a little water and add to the flour. Start mixing, then add the salt and gradually the rest of the water until you obtain a smooth and firm dough, which you will then knead for about 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 16 b a l l s a n d l e t t h e m r i s e , covered, for about 3 hours, or until their volume dou- bles. Then, roll each of them out with a rolling pin (don't forget to flour the table, lest t h e d o u g h s t i c k s t o i t ) , making them thin. Once you turned all the balls into disks, take two and p u t t h e m o n e u p o n t h e other, then roll them out again. Place the disks (one by one) on the heated baking tray (use an oven mitt when handling it) and bake them f o r n o t m o r e t h a n 1 5 - 2 0 seconds, until they puff up. With a knife, divide the two parts of the puffed up sheet, as explained in the previous recipe, then place the sheets in the oven again and bake for about 8 minu- tes at 170C or 340F. Let them cool and enjoy! PS: according to the peo- ple at La Cucina Italiana (and they know a thing or two about cooking, let me t e l l y o u ) , h e a t i n g u p t h e baking tray before placing the disks on it is essential, so don't bypass this step. To make pane carasau, the dough must be rolled very thin (Photo: Francesco Mou/Dreamstime) Continued from page 26

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