AUTHENTIC  ITALIAN  RECIPES

 FROM

 RISTORANTE  d'ANNAMARIA

BOCCONCINI DI VERDURE (BREAD PUFFS FILLED WITH VEGETABLES)

These are sometimes called pasta cresciuta. They are always a great way to start a meal.

Ingredients for 4 persons:

red pepper                        1

onion                               1

tomatoes                           2

zucchini                           1

tomato puree                     2 tablespoons

bread dough                      10 oz.

salt

course salt

extra virgin olive oil          as needed

For the bread dough:

5 oz. of bread flour (all purpose flour is fine)

4 oz. ± of very warm (not hot) water

3 oz. of yeast (dry or cake)

a pinch of salt

In half of the warm water, disslove the yeast and salt

Transfer this water and the flour to a large bowl and kneed it, adding the remaining water a little at a time until you've obtained a dough that is very elastic and homogeneous. About ten minutes of kneeding is right.

Let the dough rise in a warm place covered with a damp kitchen towel.The dough is ready for the finish of the recipe after about one hour or when the dough has doubled in volume. Punch it down and its ready to go.

How to do it:

Prepare the vegetables (red pepper, onion, tomatoes and zucchini) by washing and peeling the onion and zucchini and cutting all the vegetables into small cubes and lightly salt them. Let the vegetables rest for an hour (this can be accomplished while the dough is rising).

In a frying pan over medium heat, cook the tomato puree until it is thickened a bit. Add it to the dough with two tablespoons of olive oil and mix them well.

Add the vegetables to the dough and mix well again. This may take a couple of minutes for each process.

Roll the dough out into small cylinders, about one inch in diameter and brush the dough cylinders with oil then let them rest for 30 minutes.

Cut the cylinders, form dough balls and bake them on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes in a 450º oven.

Sprinkle a little coarse salt over them (like a soft pretzel).

Eat them warm or at room temperature.