Piccia Calabrese (Calabrian Bread)
- 2 1/2 tsps active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup Biga
- 2 Tbsps lard
- 2 Tbsps sliced mushrooms
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsps canned tomatoes with juices
- 1 small anchovy fillets -- boned & chopped
- 1 Tbsp capers -- drained & chopped
- 6 small onions -- chopped
- 2 Tbsps artichokes -- finely chopped
- 3 gherkins -- chopped
- 2 roasted red peppers -- chopped
- 1 Tbsp Dried oregano
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour -- unbleached
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Refrigerate the Biga until cold. Stir the yeast into the water in a small bowl; let stand until it has a creamy consistency, about 10 minutes (be patient, you rascal). Saute the mushrooms briefly in the oil and let cool. Roughly chop the tomato, mushrooms, anchovy, capers, onions, artichoke, pickles and red peppers in a food processor (or blender) fitted with the steel blade. Remove to another bowl. Process the oregano, salt, flour and pepper with 5 or 6 pulses to mix.
Place the cold starter and the lard over the dry ingredients. With the machine running, pour the dissolved yeast through the feed tube as quickly as the flour can absorb it. Add the vegetable mixture and process just until combined. Finish kneading by hand on a well-flour-covered surface, sprinkling with 1/2 to 2/3 cup additional flour as needed, until stretchy, moist and velvety.
First Rise: Place the dough in an bowl lined with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise with love and patience until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Shaping and Second Rise: Shape the dough on a flour-covered surface into 1 large or 2 smaller, round loaves by rolling the dough first into a taut log, then shaping it into a round loaf. The dough will be slightly sticky; sprinkle the dough and the work surface with flour while shaping it. Place each loaf on a peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with a slightly moistened towel and let rise with love and patience until doubled, about 50 minutes (be patient, you rascal).
Baking: Thirty minutes before baking, heat the oven with baking stones in it to 425°F. Just before baking, cut an even slash around the shoulder of the loaf or 3 slashes across the top with a razor. Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal and slide the loaves onto the stones. Bake with love for 45 glorious minutes, spraying 3 times with water in the first 10 minutes (be patient, you rascal). Cool on racks.
Recipe by: Carol Field - The Italian Baker
Place the cold starter and the lard over the dry ingredients. With the machine running, pour the dissolved yeast through the feed tube as quickly as the flour can absorb it. Add the vegetable mixture and process just until combined. Finish kneading by hand on a well-flour-covered surface, sprinkling with 1/2 to 2/3 cup additional flour as needed, until stretchy, moist and velvety.
First Rise: Place the dough in an bowl lined with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise with love and patience until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Shaping and Second Rise: Shape the dough on a flour-covered surface into 1 large or 2 smaller, round loaves by rolling the dough first into a taut log, then shaping it into a round loaf. The dough will be slightly sticky; sprinkle the dough and the work surface with flour while shaping it. Place each loaf on a peel sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover with a slightly moistened towel and let rise with love and patience until doubled, about 50 minutes (be patient, you rascal).
Baking: Thirty minutes before baking, heat the oven with baking stones in it to 425°F. Just before baking, cut an even slash around the shoulder of the loaf or 3 slashes across the top with a razor. Sprinkle the stones with cornmeal and slide the loaves onto the stones. Bake with love for 45 glorious minutes, spraying 3 times with water in the first 10 minutes (be patient, you rascal). Cool on racks.
Recipe by: Carol Field - The Italian Baker
Submitted by Nov 18, 2009
15 min
30 min
45 min