Sfogliata (Italian Paprika and Anchovy Bread)

Last weekend was cold and rainy with not much sunshine at all... but we were very happy with this weather! We were at Mount Baw Baw which is about three hours drive from Melbourne. It was snowing when we got there and we were having fun tobogganing and snow fights. After all the intensive snow fights, we were all tired and hungry when we reached home at Melbourne...

We love eating anchovies especially when they are lightly toasted on pizzas. Now, seeing the description of this well-rated Epicurious recipe make me feel that I got to try baking this bread.

To know the origin and information of this bread, I tried to "Google" and translate this word, Sfogliata or "Sfogliata recipe". All I can gather is that the meaning of "Sfogliata" being “glance" or "look” and this Epicurious recipe being the only major hits of this search. I have not tried any authentic Italian sfogliata and would be able to know what kind of taste and texture that I'm after. All I know is this bread is extremely delicious! It is soft and tender inside, amazingly crispy at its bottom. Its every bite is full of "mouth-exploring" flavours.

Two important things to mention about this bread... One: I would strongly encourage to stick to the use of sweet Hungarian paprika to make this bread, otherwise you will need to reduce the amount of paprika if you are baking this spicy-intolerant eaters. Two: Depending on how I cut  this bread, its inside would have a few different looks. When I cut the bread lengthwise of the coil, I will have a long loopy swirl bread and when I cut directly into the coiled area, I will have a rounder swirl. So be aware of which way you cut your bread if you seeking for a particular look of this bread... In whatever particular ways, they all taste good!

Presenting my Sofgliata!

Ingredients for the seasoned oil

Making the bread

Cutting the bread lengthwise...

A perfect coil if cutting the bread directly at the coiled area...

Here's the recipe from Epicurious.

(with my modification and notes in blue)

For dough

3/4 cup warm water (105-115°F)

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup "00" flour

1 cup semolina flour

1 tsp salt

For seasoned oil

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika

1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano

4 canned flat anchovy fillets, drained, patted dry, and minced
(increased to 6)

1/2 tsp salt
(I didn't add this)

Make dough:

Stir together water and yeast in a small bowl until yeast is dissolved and let stand until foamy, about 5 min. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir oil into yeast mixture. Pulse together "00" flour, semolina, and salt in a food processor until combined. With motor running, pour in yeast mixture and process until a wet dough forms. Transfer dough from bowl to a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times until smooth. Form dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.

Make seasoned oil:

Whisk together all oil ingredients in a small bowl until combined well.

Form and bake sfogliata:

Lightly oil an 8-inch square baking pan. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to remove air. Roll out dough on a well-floured surface into a roughly 18-inch round (1/8-inch thick).

Reserve 1 tbsp seasoned oil and brush remaining oil over dough round, leaving a 1/4-inch border around edge. Tightly roll up dough jelly-roll style and pinch seam to seal (some filling will seep out as you roll). Arrange roll seam side down and form into a coil, then transfer to oiled pan. Gently press on coil to flatten slightly, then cover pan loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hr.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F (or 150°C fan forced). Brush top of dough with reserved oil and bake until pale golden and top and underside are crusty, 35 to 40 min. Lift bread from pan with a metal spatula and transfer, right side up, to cool completely on a rack, about 1 hr. Serve bread thinly sliced.

Happy Baking
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Here are the nice memories that we had from our last weekend... Enjoy the scenes of our wintery August !

It was snowing when we arrived at Mount Baw Baw.

My son was pulling his toboggan.

Can you spot a man in this picture?