Leccese Pizzi, also known as puccette, are small buns already seasoned before baking, a typical street food from Salento.
Easy to prepare from a simple bread dough, left to rise and then completed with a topping of tomatoes, olives, capers, and oregano, simple and typical ingredients of Salento. A traditional rural anti-waste recipe, where leftover bread dough was worked with other simple ingredients available to create delicious small buns already filled before baking, perfect to take to the fields as a complete meal. As with any traditional recipe, each family has its own version: the following recipe is easy to make, with a crispy exterior and soft and tasty interior, almost reminiscent of a filled focaccia, perfect as an appetizer, to accompany an aperitif, for a savory snack, to enrich a party buffet or for an informal meal.
Read how to make Leccese Pizzi with the easy recipe found below, as usual, right after the photo 😉
You might also be interested in the following recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 12 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.35 cups water
- 0.28 oz fresh yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- durum wheat semolina flour (for kneading the dough)
- 7 oz canned tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp salted capers
- 10 pitted black olives
- extra virgin olive oil
- oregano
- salt
Preparation of Leccese Pizzi
Crumble the fresh yeast into a small bowl, add the sugar, and pour in some of the lukewarm water provided in the recipe.
Stir thoroughly to dissolve the yeast.
Place the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center, and pour in the yeast mixture.
Start mixing with a fork, gradually incorporating the flour from the side of the center and also adding the rest of the water in a slow stream.
Once the liquids are absorbed by the flour, transfer to a work surface lightly sprinkled with durum wheat semolina flour and knead by hand until obtaining a homogeneous dough.Add two teaspoons of salt and knead again until you have a smooth and homogeneous dough, using a little semolina flour if needed.
Form a ball, place it back into the bowl, cover it, and let it rise until doubled in size (about a couple of hours).
In the meantime, finely chop the onion and let it soften with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan.
Roughly chop the canned tomatoes into pieces and rinse the salted capers under running water.
Slice the pitted olives.
When the onion has softened, add the canned tomatoes, a handful of oregano, capers, and olives and cook for about ten minutes, over medium heat, stirring often, until the sauce is well thickened.
Salt it and let it cool.When the dough has doubled in volume, take it and add half of the prepared filling and mix thoroughly to incorporate it, then add the remaining filling and mix again: you will obtain a somewhat soft and slippery mixture.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place small mounds of dough on it, using a spoon and spacing them apart.
Let them rise again until doubled in size, covering them with a cloth (it will take about an hour).
Finally, bake your Leccese Pizzi in a preheated static oven at 428°F for about fifteen minutes, until golden.
Take them out of the oven and serve them.
Notes
If you want to stay updated on all my recipes, without missing a single one, follow me on my Facebook page by clicking HERE.
Questions and Answers
How to store Leccese Pizzi?
They can be stored in a paper bag or a bread container and remain soft for a couple of days.
