Palermo-style snack foods are one of the culinary specialties of splendid Sicily. They are soft rustic snacks made of brioche dough, with added honey and sugar that make them slightly sweet. In every bakery, we can find these delicious snacks (in Palermo they call them pieces), and there are options for every taste: mini pizzas, rolls, calzones, ravazzate, etc. Generally, the calzone is filled with cooked ham and béchamel, the roll with a sausage, and the ravazzata filled with the classic meat sauce used to stuff arancine, another amazing Palermo creation. However, fillings can be according to your tastes and preferences, as I did. Enjoy this soft recipe!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 6 Hours
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Ingredients for 10 pieces, each weighing 2.8 oz.
- 8.8 oz Manitoba flour
- 8.8 oz all-purpose flour
- 0.2 oz fresh yeast
- 1.8 oz sugar
- 0.4 oz honey
- 1.8 oz lard
- 1 cup water
- 0.4 oz salt
- 1 egg yolk
- a bit of milk
Tools
- Stand mixer
Procedure
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add water, sugar, honey, and yeast, and let them dissolve.
Add the flour and lard, and work it for a few minutes. Then add the salt last and let it absorb.
Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for at least 6 hours.
After the rising time, take the dough and divide it in two, form a log, and cut pieces. You can decide whether to make them small, like buffet size, about 1.8 oz, or larger at 2.8-3.2 oz, or even 4.2 oz.
Form balls and while waiting to fill them all, cover with plastic wrap.
Flatten the ball more on the edges and start preparing the calzones.
Fill with your chosen ingredients, close the ends, and seal with the tines of a fork.
For the ravazzate, follow the same procedure of flattening the ball more on the edges, fill it, and start closing by joining the tips of the edges. Continue to close the other tips and pinch to seal.
Form a “pouch,” turn the ball with the closure facing down, and round it in the palm of your hand.
Proceed with the roll; unlike the other pieces, here you need to form a log about as long as the sausage you will use.
Hold the tip of the log on the tip of the sausage and start turning clockwise.
Pinch the ends to seal.
Cover all the pieces with plastic wrap and let them rise for 30 minutes.
After resting, brush the surface with egg yolk and milk.
Bake at 428°F in a preheated static oven for 25 minutes.
Tip
For convenience, you can fill the pieces and freeze them before the final rise. Or cook them and freeze them; when needed, take them out, let them thaw at room temperature, and heat them for a few seconds in the microwave.
