Yes, once again I find myself creating a variant of the famous and appreciated Palermo street food. In the past, on my blog, I have proposed various alternatives like fried calzones or arancine, always achieving amazing results!
Today I present to you a Palermo street food piece called “boat” made with the essential and indispensable brioche dough then filled with ham, mozzarella, and sausages.
In Palermo, as well as in the rest of Sicily, the “pieces” are strongly present in the tradition and habits of the islanders so much that they are not necessarily tied to a specific time of day. It is absolutely normal to consume this type of preparation at breakfast, lunch, or for an out-of-time snack or at dinner.
There are a multitude of variants both baked and fried and many sweet preparations that use the same dough, like baked iris. The result is always a delight for the palate and I assure you that by finding the right balance in the preparation technique, you will hardly prefer other similar things.
Thanks to this detailed recipe, you can take this opportunity to prepare your best street food pieces at home and delight yourself, your family, or your guests!
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 3 Hours
- Portions: 7/8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
Ingredients
For the Palermo Street Food “Boats”
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- 0.9 oz fresh yeast
- 1.8 oz lard
- 1.8 oz sugar
- 0.35 oz salt
- 8.8 oz sliced cooked ham
- 14.1 oz mozzarella for pizza (block)
- 1 pack large sausages
- 1 egg yolk
- A few drops milk
- as needed sesame seeds
- A few tablespoons tomato sauce
Tools
- Mixer
- Containers
Steps
To make the Palermo Street Food “Boats”
To start, make the dough by placing all the ingredients in the mixer bowl or the Thermomix, then add flour, water, yeast, lard, sugar, and salt
Knead for 4 minutes; in this case, I used the Thermomix, setting the “spiga” mode suitable for dough
Once the time is up, continue by placing the dough on a lightly greased work surface, forming a ball, and let it rest for about 15 minutes in an airtight container. Then bring the dough and create balls weighing 100g each
Gradually place the balls in airtight containers and let them rise for about 1 hour at room temperature or in a single larger container, taking care to space them to avoid sticking
To continue, after rising time, prepare the filling by wrapping a thick slice of block mozzarella (1/2 inch) in a slice of cooked ham and repeat for the number of pieces to prepare
At this point, take one dough ball at a time and flatten it first with your hands and then slightly with a rolling pin, being careful not to thin the disk too much
Here, place the prepared filling in the center of the disk and sausages cut lengthwise in half (if you are using small sausages, use 2 halves, but if you use large ones, one is enough)
Now proceed to close the boat by bringing one outer edge to the center with your hands and then the other, taking care to seal the top well. Gradually place the boats on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rise for 1.5 hours inside an oven with the light on
Then, after the final rise time, take the baking sheet out and preheat the oven to 428°F – while it reaches temperature, brush the surface of the boats with egg yolk mixed with a few drops of milk. Finally, garnish with a teaspoon of tomato sauce on top and sprinkle with sesame seeds
To complete, bake in the middle rack for 10/11 minutes, ensuring the oven has reached the temperature first. After baking time, remove the tray and let rest for about 10 minutes before consuming and serving
Tip!
You can experiment with variations by adding salami or alternative cheeses like smoked scamorza.
