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Italian Rolls

This type of roll was popularized by Italian American immigrants, who filled them with Italian-style cured meats, cheese and pickled vegetable antipasti (like giardinera). The original “Italian” sub inspired many variations that are now famous in their own right, like the Philly Cheesesteak (recipe below!). These rolls contain just enough oil and sugar to make the crust thinner and softer than a baguette or other “straight’ dough (dough without sugar or oil), but not as soft as a hamburger bun or sandwich loaf.  They freeze well, so go ahead and make big batch to keep on hand for when you need a quick sandwich fix.

  • Yield: 6 8-inch rolls 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 21 ounces bread flour
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tsp instant yeast 2 tsp honey 2 cups water 2 ounces butter or vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. Combine wet and dry ingredients to form a medium hydration dough.
  2. Fold every 30 minutes until the dough is doubled in size and develops good strength (2-4 times). Drier dough need less folding. Never force your dough to fold. If it’s tight and tearing when you go to fold it, just let it rest. If it’s slack and loose, fold it extra thoroughly. Either way, make sure it doubles in size (about 2 hours).
  3. Once doubled, cut into about six 7-to-8-ounce portions. flatten and roll into 8-inch logs. place on a lined baking tray, dust with flour, and cover with plastic.
  4. Allow to rise until more than doubled in size. When fully risen, rolls should not spring back when poked.
  5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees for at least 30 minutes prior to baking.
  6. slash down the center of the roll to allow for expansion, and load into the oven. Before shutting the door, pour 3 ounces of water onto the bottom of your oven to create steam steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they are lightly browned and the center temperature reaches 200.
  7. Cool on a wire rack, then slice lengthwise to fill with your favorite sub fixings.
  • Author: Ben Lester
  • Category: rolls
  • Cuisine: Italian

Find it online: https://localgrain.org/philly-cheesesteak/