Pane Siciliano

By John, 31 December, 2019
Region
Sicily
Description
Pane Siciliano

This traditional Italian semolina bread is delicious and fun to make, but it doesn't keep very well. Fortunately it does freeze well.

The dough is easy to work with. It can be baked into many shapes; the sesame-sprinkled s-shape shown here is the occhi di Santa Lucia, or the eyes of Saint Lucy.

 

Yield
16 Servings
Preparation time
6 hours
Ingredients
3 1⁄2 c Semolina Flour
3 c Water (lukewarm)
1⁄2 T Instant yeast
1⁄2 t Sugar
3 1⁄2 c Bread Flour
1 T Salt
3 T Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1⁄2 c Sesame Seeds, toasted
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar and a bit of the flour into the water and add the yeast.
  2. Wait until it gets foamy, maybe 10 minutes depending on how warm your kitchen is.
  3. Gradually add the remaining flours and the salt, mixing well.
  4. Add the olive oil and knead the dough until elastic.
  5. Let the dough rise until puffy. This may be some hours in a cool kitchen.
  6. Punch it down and divide it into three parts.
  7. On a greased baking sheet, form each part into a long even strip and let it rest a few minutes.
  8. Working from each end, twist each dough strip into the traditional S shape. Move to a semolina dusted baking sheet.
  9. Brush with water and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  10. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rest while the loaves rise completely.
  11. Bake in an oven preheated to 450 until done, about 30 minutes. You can get a better crust if you spray the inside of the oven with a little water when the loaves go in.
Source
https://www.breadexperience.com/semolina-bread-pane-siciliano-mellow/