Author: Wendy Grosset

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How a grain of durum wheat became a great Sicilian bread

Once upon a time an impatient little wheat grain from the West Sicilian island wandered around the Rubino dam. He walked up the hill.  He was so delighted by the breathtaking scenery that he decided to stay there for ever. He dug the soil and quenched his thirst from the prodigious natural water.  He relished the warm Sicilian days and gentle, fresh rain showers.  

The little grain started growing. He sprang his roots and he sprouted from the soil to a marvellous stem.  He could now relish the splendid Sicilian weather even more.

He grew  and grew until he became a long, magnificent golden spike, a spike of traditional Sicilian Tancredi wheat.

Summer came at last.  And the golden spike hardened and dried flawlessly with the scorching hot 35 Celsius temperatures.  It was ready for harvest! Harvest is a wonderful moment for the farmers. Finally, they are able to experience the circle of life where a simple grain can be transformed in a fragrant spike with another 28 little grains ready for planting or for production of semola for pasta and bread.

Pane di Semola Rimacinata, Sicilian flavour

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Sicilian Durum wheat bread, do you like it?

DurumWheatBread_20210130_800x1000

I have just eaten the first piece of this bread with other great Sicilian ingredients and recipe as we do eat it in Trapani, Sicily.

Ingredients

We use our own organic flour but this is not the only ingredient we use, main ones are:

  • 1 kg of durum wheat flour, commonly known in Sicily as “rimacinato”
  • 600 to 630 grams of water, notice hydration often depends on the type of wheat, the flour and other environmental circumstances
  • 30 grams of salt
  • 15 grams of fresh yeast, if you want to use dry yeast use between 6 to 7.5 grams
  • sesame seeds and olive oil optional but highly suggested

Preparation

  1. Put 100 ml of the water in a glass, make sure the water temperature is not cold (in UK I tend to warm it up the water a little bit), and mix the yeast inside it until completely blended in.
  2. Put the remaining water in a mixer or bowl with the salt and dissolve it by mixing it.
  3. Add half of the flour and mix it until it comes together and the flour is moistened. In this phase we use the K shaped tool in our mixer
  4. Once all blended in, add the other half of the flour and mix again
  5. Add the water with the yeast and mix again
  6. Now I change the tool from the K shaped to the dough mixer tool and again mix until all the flour and dough become so blended that the dough is not sticking to the bowl and can be lifted with your hands
  7. Leave the dough in the bowl and if possible put it inside your oven with the light on but no cooking temperature applied. This is ideal to let the first phase of leavening begin. Leavening of the dough might not happen correctly if  left in a cold environment.
  8. After approximately 1 hour, take the dough out of the bowl and on top of a worktop. We are going to start working on it and we do use a bit of olive oil in this phase on top of the surface so that the dough does not stick and can be worked correctly. It also adds a great taste to the bread.
  9. Cut the dough in 4 parts and roll each part into a baguette-like shape and place it on top of a tray ready for the oven, we use non sticky sheet in fibre glass or oven paper. Apply sesame seeds, if you like, on top of the dough at this stage.

    Durum wheat rimacinato bread dough
    Dough made the same way as we do in Sicily but in a recipe adapted for home cooking
  10. Place it again in the oven with the light on only, no cooking or fan, and let the leavening phase take between 2 to 3 hours. You are expecting the dough to double in size.
  11. When you see the dough is ready, apply some small diagonal cuts at the top . I usually put 4 on each piece. Put the oven on and cook at 200 to 220 degrees for 25 minutes. This is the temperature of our house oven, but on a commercial oven you could cook it faster at higher temperatures. After the first 25 minutes, turn them around so that the bottom cooks if not well cooked yet.

    Durum wheat rimacinato bread cooked
    Bread made the same way as we do in Sicily but in a recipe adapted for home cooking

    The crust at this stage should be solid but not too hard and the bread still very soft inside. Let it rest for a few minutes and then take it out to enjoy it.

I hope you like this recipe and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.