I love pagnotte! And a sweet lady from church, Rosalina, gave me her recipe for the most incredible pagnotte. I make these about once a week and they are absolutely terrific….crusty from the outside and moist and soft from the inside….I tell you, all bread is NOT created equal =)  Feast your eyes upon these rolls  and get your ingredients ready……you are about to make some delicious pagnotte!

Ingredients:

– 500 grams (1 pound) bread flour (…..if you are in Italy, use farina tipo 00….”Poiatti” is the best brand. If you are the USA, and are willing to pay a bit more for Italian flour, you can find the “00” type of flour here Antimo Caputo Italian Superfine “00” Farina Flour 2.2 lb Bag)

– 200 milliliters (14 Tbsp or 7 ounces) water

-100 milliliters (7 Tbsp or 3 1\2 ounces) milk, room temperature

– 15 grams of fresh compressed yeast, or 1 pkg of active dry yeast

– 1 TBSP olive oil

– 1 TBSP salt

– Dry herbs (optional)

Directions:

By hand,  or with a mixer on lowest speed, mix all the ingredients together until the dough doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl (You may have to add a bit of water or dough). Cover and let rise until doubled in volume. Then, divide into balls and place on a greased baking tray or tray lined with parchment\baking paper. Cover again, and let sit for another 10-15 minutes.

Preheat the oven, and bake at 200 Celsius or 400 Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until brown on top.

Here’s what I do down here in Sicily with pagnotte: When out of the oven, immediately slice open and drizzle a good amount of olive oil, sprinkle dried red chili flakes, garlic flakes, and dried oregano. They are a meal all by themselves! Mmmmmm!

Buon Appetito!

Wanita =)