 Once you have a vibrant and bubbly sourdough starter at the ready, we can start our journey of crafting our Rosemary Sourdough bread. The addition of aromatic rosemary not only adds a fragrant twist but also complements the tanginess of the sourdough.
Throughout this recipe, we will guide you through each step with detailed instructions, ensuring that your Rosemary Sourdough bread turns out beautifully. From mixing the ingredients and kneading the dough to patiently waiting for the fermentation process to work its magic, the rewards will be well worth the effort.
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 This is not your classic pizza recipe!
Today we’re making pizza using the biga method. Biga is a type of pre-ferment often used in Italian bakeries and in pizza restaurants. These types of pre-ferment have many benefits for the final product. The biga takes the aroma and the flavour of the bread to another level, giving it a delicious smell and nutty flavour. It also helps to develop an open crumb texture with a golden, crispy crust!  For this focaccia recipe I decided to use the indirect method. What does that mean? It means that a small amount of flour, water and yeast is taken from the main recipe, mixed and pre-fermented overnight, then eventually added when making bread the day after. It's as simple as that!
There are different pre-ferments and this one I’m using today is called the poolish method. This bread making method was first developed in Poland during the 1840s (hence the name) and is probably the easiest pre-ferment that anyone can do / use in their baking to turn simple recipes into something more interesting! You might ask what are the benefits of using this method? Like any other pre-ferments, the poolish method gives the bread a longer shelf life. It develops a better crust and due to its long fermentation, this method gives an excellent aroma to the final bread.  This is Sardinian sheep ragù!
The process is very similar to other meat ragù, although this recipe has a much more intense and wild flavour. Sheep meat is also much fattier and gamier in flavour than lamb meat. It's often eaten in Sardinia on special occasions and you can find many delicious recipes using this type of meat. This recipe is often made with whole cuts of meat but the ragù using mince meat is our favourite version of this dish. Once the ragù is made it can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days or it can be frozen in small batches for up to 3 months. It will taste even better from the day after you make it as it will have cooled down properly overnight and the flavours will have combined all together to make a very tasty ragù! If you can’t find sheep mince you can substitute it for lamb mince. Of course sheep meat is fattier and stronger in flavor but lamb is a good substitute and will still make a tasty ragù!  You might not have seen this rare pasta shape before. It's called spizzulus and it's a traditional fresh pasta from Orroli in Sardinia, a very small town in the south of the island.
The name comes from our dialect and it literally means "to pinch" referring to the pinching method used to seal the ropes of dough together into a loop. Although most Sardinian pasta shapes are very unusual and a bit tricky to make by hand, these ones are very easy and are great to accompany with whichever sauce you wish. Because of the way they are shaped, the pasta stays thick giving the final dish a good bite. We used a classic semolina and water pasta dough here but in Orroli there is also a different dough version made with Cannonau, a delicious red wine from Sardinia, instead of the usual water.  This is Pane Frattau!
In the last blog post we made Pani Carasau from scratch, a delicious crispy sheet of bread, and today we are making a Sardinian lasagna with it! Layers of pecorino cheese, tomato sauce and music paper bread gives this dish the idea of being a kind of lasagna. This signature dish from Sardinia, literally called Pane Frattau in Sardininan language, is peasant food at it's very best. Cheap ingredients but with very rich flavours when combined together. Making your own broth is crucial here as the music paper bread will be softened in a full flavour broth, usually a rich sheep or vegetable broth, so avoid using a shop bought stock cubes. |