Bussolai

The reason I buy cookbooks is to glean recipes that I'd never otherwise be able to imagine. If that were the only reason for that vast collection in my cookbook shelves though, I might as well just hunt down recipes on the Internet. I cannot imagine how many recipes would be found within the confines of my little laptop. I don't care though. I admit, sometimes I do use Taste.com.au and of course Nigella's website, I want more though. Searching for just the recipe I want is so much more of an experience when I stand at my bookcase. Reach for a book, turn to the index. Discover the book I have selected hasn't got what I am looking for. Return the book. Grab another book. Find a couple of recipes, flip to the pages, set the book aside. Hunt for another book in case it has something even closer to what I am looking for. I might end up with two or three books I can then sit with, and mentally do my inventory of ingredients to hand.

That's what I did this morning. I'm delighted to say that the recipe I settled for is in a book that is a piece of art, not just a recipe book. This book with it's beautiful gilded pages, black velvet ribbon and exquisite images is such a pleasure to browse. Venezia food & dreams is the book I settled onto the couch with. I happily found the recipe to make, but then went on to indulge in page after page of stunning images, I am pleased to say there are recipes worth making too! This is a Tessa Kiros book, and the whole collection from this author are beautiful, they seem to be more and more stunning with each new title! It's not a book I have cooked from much, but how could I not have this book in my collection?

I was making use of leftovers for our tea by making a soup out of some mash. The mash was potato and apple. I roasted some pumpkin and combined the lot. I thought some bread was the natural side to this bread.

I went with a grissini style bread today. I'd never heard of Bussolai until this book. They are 'bread bangles'. This was absolutely going to be fun for the kidlets. They might love making sweet things, but the fun of rolling bread dough? That trumps just about everything.

Here's my dough with it's cross cut in, ready for it's morning rise. I don't get to make bread as often as I'd like these days, but I'm always so thrilled when I do. This bread was very easy, even being given a hard time from the children, it still worked out.

This recipe is in the 'Essential recipes' section, and I decided to try it in spite of reading 'at first I didn't like (this bread) but now I do'! I used my Kenwood other than for a final quick knead.

Bussolai

1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
30g butter, melted and cooled (the recipe did suggest marg as an option - not me)
450g 00 flour
250ml lukewarm water
1 tsp salt (I used 2 tsp of salt flakes which I then crunched up)

Pop the yeast, sugar, butter and about 100g of the flour into the mixing bowl. Add the water and give it a quick mix. Leave it to sit for about 10 minutes.

Add the rest of the flour and all the salt and mix it up. Work the dough for about 5 minutes (10 by hand) only adding more flour if you really need it. You want a smooth elastic dough. Give it a little go with your hands, form it into a ball and cut a cross in the dough before returning it to the bowl. Cover with a cloth and leave to sit in a warm, draft-free place for an hour or two, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line some baking trays with baking paper or similar. Divide the dough into '34 equal pieces or 20g each'. We managed 29 little balls. I haven't any electric scales right now, so my OCD self had to settle for about right!

On a smooth unfloured surface (no flour on your hands either) roll each piece into a thin rope about 30cm long. Press the ends together and lay the dough on the trays into oval-ish 'bracelets'.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until crisp and pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and pop onto a cooling rack.

Makes about 30 and best eaten fresh.


Master Two seems to have a natural knack for rolling - I needed two hands, he was fine with one.