Carta Da Musica Food

CARTA DI MUSICA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Note: If you have a pizza stone, use it! If you don't have a pizza stone, you can mimic one by placing an upside down sheet pan into the oven while it is preheating.
• Using an electric mixer fitted with dough hook attachment, add both flours, water and salt; stir on low speed until well combined. Increase speed to medium and let mix for 6-7 minutes, or until dough is very smooth.
• Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
• Working on a large cutting board, spray board with non-stick baking spray. Roll one ball into an 8" or 9" circle.
• Brush top of dough lightly with olive oil and then sprinkle top with kosher salt and/or Italian seasonings. Flip dough over and repeat process.
• Working with 1-2 pieces of dough at a time, place dough on the pizza stone (or overturned sheet pan) and bake for 3-4 minutes. Using a pair of kitchen or grill tongs, flip dough over and continue baking for 3-4 more minutes. Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough.
• Let cool and then break each piece apart into bite-sized pieces. Serve with additional olive oil for dipping.

CARTA DA MUSICA

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 450F, with a pizza stone in the middle or lower part (not top) of the oven. If you're not using a stone, preheat a baking sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes before placing breads on it to bake. Mix the flour, semolina, salt, and water, stirring to make a soft dough. Knead till dough is smooth and resilient, about 7 minutes in a stand mixer set at medium speed. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, rounding each piece into a ball. Cover the balls and let them relax for about 15 minutes; this will make them easier to roll out. Roll each ball of dough into an 8- to 9-inch round on a lightly greased (NOT floured) work surface. The rounds will shrink to about 7 inches. Transfer the rounds, 2 or 3 at a time, to your baking sheet or the hot pizza stone. Bake until the top of the bread is firm and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Turn them over, and bake until the other side is lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack. Serve with spreads or dips. Or brush with seasoned olive oil, and sprinkle with a touch of salt.

CARTA DA MUSICA

Steps:

• Prepare the Sponge:
• Mix the cup of flour with the semolina flour and place in a small bowl. Make a well in the flour. Add the salt to the water, then add the yeast. When the yeast is dissolved, pour it into the well. Incorporate the 1 1/4 cup flour by mixing with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of flour over the sponge. Let the sponge rest, covered, overnight in a warm place away from drafts.
• Next morning, if you do not have a brick oven, line the lower shelf of the oven with unglazed terra-cotta tiles or, as second choice, use a pizza stone. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Be sure to preheat the oven at least 1 hour before using it because the tiles themselves must reach that temperature.
• Prepare the Dough:
• Mix the 2 cups of flour with the 1/2 cup of semolina flour and make a large well in the flour. Place the sponge in the well along with the water. Carefully mix the sponge with the water, using a wooden spoon, then start incorporating the flour from the edges of the well. Gather the dough with your hands, form a ball and place the ball on a board or other work surface. Start kneading, incorporating more flour. Knead with a folding motion. At this point you will need some of the 1/2 cup of reserved flour. When the dough becomes very elastic, after about 5 minutes of kneading, lightly flour it, place it in a bowl and let it rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• The classic size of the carta da musica is a disc of about 18 inches in diameter. Bearing in mind the size of your oven and even your own experience in handling large sheets of thin dough, divide the risen dough into pieces of comfortable size, remembering that the dough is to be stretched to the thickness of about 1/8 inch. Once the dough is divided into pieces, knead each piece with a little flour. Roll each piece very evenly to a uniform thickness, with no holes at all and no creases; otherwise the dough will not puff up completely in the oven.
• As 2 or 3 pieces of dough are rolled out, start baking them one at a time. Place a disc on a baker's peel, transfer it onto the tile, close oven and bake for 1 minute. Open the oven, gently turn the puffed-up dough over and bake for 30 seconds more.
• Remove bread from oven, transfer onto a board and immediately insert a sharp knife between the two puffed-up, separated layers of half-cooked carta da musica. Placing one hand over the puffed-up dough, use the other hand to cut all around to detach the edges of the layers from each other.
• It is best if a second person can do this cutting because the first will be completely occupied in rolling out dough and baking the remaining dough.
• Stack the separated halves on a towel, being absolutely sure that all are placed with the inner side down, so that no 2 inside parts will touch. Place a light weight over the stack of prebaked carta da musica halves to prevent them from curling up.
• When all the pieces of dough have been baked, placed under the weight and cooled, take the pieces and return them, one at a time, to the oven to bake for about 10 seconds on each side or until very crisp. Carta da musica should be very dry and extremely crisp. Continue until all the pieces of the bread are rebaked and crisp. Once all the layers are cold, you may wrap them in brown paper and use them for as long as several months if the humidity is not high.

PANé FRATTAU

Steps:

• Cut the fresh tomatoes into pieces, then place fresh or canned tomatoes in a medium-sized saucepan with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper to taste and the basil leaves; simmer for 15 minutes.
• Pass contents of pan through a food mill, using the disc with the smallest holes, into a crockery or glass bowl. Return the strained sauce to the saucepan and reduce for 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.
• Set the carta da musica bread, 1 sheet at a time, on a large serving platter, pour 1 cup of the broth over it and let soak for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer each bread sheet onto an individual dish.
• Pour 1/4 of the still very warm tomato sauce over each sheet and spread it out with a ladle. Fold the overhanging pieces of the bread inward to reproduce the shape of the dish itself. Follow this procedure with all 4 sheets of bread.
• Place a medium-sized saucepan with 3 cups of cold water over medium heat. When the water reaches a boil, add salt to taste and the wine vinegar. Break 1 egg in the water and carefully, using a small spoon, fold the white over the egg yolk; simmer for 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the uovo in camicia (poached egg) onto the bread and tomato sauce of one of the dishes. Repeat the same procedure with the other 3 eggs. Sprinkle abundant grated cheese over the 4 portions and serve.