Sardinian Parchment Bread (A Traditional Shepherd's Bread)
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine semolina flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- About 1 1/4 cups water
Preheat the oven to 450°F at least 40 minutes before baking.
In a sizeable bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, semolina flour and salt. Mix the ingredients through and through. Slowly add water, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a soft dough (you may not need to add all the water.) With your hands, work the dough into a ball. Place on a clean, floured work surface and knead for about one minute. The dough should be firm and pliable, not sticky.
Divide the dough evenly into 12 balls. Place the balls on a lightly flour-covered surface. Flatten each ball into a thick 4-inch pancake. Generously flour the work surface and with a heavy-duty rolling pin, roll each portion of the dough as thin as possible into an 8" to 9" round. These breads are meant to be roughly shaped. Thinness is more important than the shape. The dough should be thin enough to see your hand through it.
Place several rounds of dough on an ungreased baking sheet and pop it in the oven or place on a baking stone with a baker's peel. Bake until the top of the bread is firm and lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes (be patient, you rascal). Baking time will vary and will also depend on the number of breads placed in the oven. With tongs or your fingers, turn the bread over and bake until the other side is slightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes more. The bread should be rather bumpy, puffy and irregular, with occasional pockets full of air. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool off. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough.
The bread cools quickly and can be served immediately.
-- Adapted from Patricia Wells' Trattoria
In a sizeable bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, semolina flour and salt. Mix the ingredients through and through. Slowly add water, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a soft dough (you may not need to add all the water.) With your hands, work the dough into a ball. Place on a clean, floured work surface and knead for about one minute. The dough should be firm and pliable, not sticky.
Divide the dough evenly into 12 balls. Place the balls on a lightly flour-covered surface. Flatten each ball into a thick 4-inch pancake. Generously flour the work surface and with a heavy-duty rolling pin, roll each portion of the dough as thin as possible into an 8" to 9" round. These breads are meant to be roughly shaped. Thinness is more important than the shape. The dough should be thin enough to see your hand through it.
Place several rounds of dough on an ungreased baking sheet and pop it in the oven or place on a baking stone with a baker's peel. Bake until the top of the bread is firm and lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes (be patient, you rascal). Baking time will vary and will also depend on the number of breads placed in the oven. With tongs or your fingers, turn the bread over and bake until the other side is slightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes more. The bread should be rather bumpy, puffy and irregular, with occasional pockets full of air. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool off. Repeat with the remaining rounds of dough.
The bread cools quickly and can be served immediately.
-- Adapted from Patricia Wells' Trattoria
Submitted by Nov 17, 2009
15 min
30 min
45 min