Puccia(Olive Studded Rolls)
Submitted by NITE_OWL
Puccia, traditional Italian olive-studded bread rolls from Puglia made with biga starter and whole wheat flour. Crusty, airy rolls with a long rise for deep flavor.
YIELD
1 dozenPREP
30 minCOOK
30 minREADY
6 hrsPuccia are rustic bread rolls from southern Italy’s Puglia region, studded with whole black olives and built on a biga starter for complex, fermented flavor. The long rise (3-4 hours for the first, another 1-1½ for the second) develops the kind of depth you can’t get from a quick-rise dough.
This is a wet, sticky dough on purpose. The high hydration is what creates that open, airy crumb with big irregular holes inside a crackling crust. Resist the urge to add extra flour. Keep your hands wet instead and trust the process. The stickiness transforms into silky elasticity as you knead.
Fold the olives in by hand at the end to keep them whole. A mixer would crush them and streak the dough with bitter olive juice. You want intact olives in every bite, bursting with briny flavor against the mild, wheaty crumb.
The shaping technique is specific: flatten each piece, roll it up, pat flat again, rotate 90 degrees, and roll once more. This double roll builds tension in the dough that gives the rolls their round shape and keeps them from spreading flat during the second rise.
Pro Tips
- The biga (pre-ferment) should be made at least a day ahead. It adds flavor complexity that straight dough can’t match.
- Don’t punch down the risen dough. Pour it out gently. All those gas bubbles are what give puccia their signature open crumb.
- A heavy dusting of flour on top before the second rise creates that characteristic rustic, flour-dusted crust.
- Bake until deeply golden and crusty. Underbaked puccia have a gummy interior.
Variations
- Puccia di Grano Duro: Substitute durum flour for the wheat/AP blend for a yellower, chewier roll.
- Puccia di Uva Passa: Replace olives with raisins soaked in water for 30 minutes for a sweet version.
- Pizzi: Fold in sauteed vegetables with hot pepper flakes instead of olives for a spicy, savory roll.
Ingredients
Directions
Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large bowl or heavy mixer.
Let proof for 10 minutes.
Add the remaining water andamp; the biga and mix until well blended.
Add the flours and mix until the dough comes together, 1 to 2 minutes, although it will not come away from the sides of the bowl.
With very wet hands, knead until the dough is very silky, soft and elasticy.
Knead on a lightly floured board to eliminate the stickiness.
Knead in the olives by hand to ensure that they remain whole.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl andamp; let rise, covered, until tripled, 3 to 4 hours.
Pour the wet dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface.
Do not punch it down.
Flour the top and divide into 12 pieces (or 16 if you want smaller rolls).
Have a bowl of water handy to keep your hands very wet.
Flatten each piece and roll it up lengthwise.
Pat them flat, turn the dough 90 degrees and roll them up again.
Shape each piece into a ball.
Set on a floured baking sheet.
Toss a hailstorm of flour over the tops and cover with a heavy cloth.
Leave until doubled, 1 to 1½ hours.
Preheat the oven to 425℉ (220℃).
Bake the rolls until they are crusty and golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.
VARIATIONS: Puccia di Grano Duro.
Substitute 1½ cup durum flour for the flours above.
Knead the dough for an extra two minutes.
Puccia di Uva Passa. Use raisins, softened in water for 30 minutes, in place of the olives. Pizzi. Add ¼ teaspoons to ⅜ teaspoons hot pepper flakes to the vegetables of Cucuzzara (see recipe) andamp; folding them into the dough in place of the olives.
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