Italian Deli-Style Hoagie Rolls.
These Italian deli-style hoagie rolls started with a recipe on the highly enjoyable Wood Fired Kitchen blog. We made extensive changes to the technique, but kept a couple of secret ingredients which the author says came from Conshohocken Bakery in Blue Bell, PA. The dough develops terrific tensile strength which is what you need when the roll is piled high with ingredients, and they taste great on their own with a sweet/salty, chewy essence. Makes six 9-inch rolls.
Ingredients:
2 t dry yeast
4 t white sugar
½ c lukewarm water
400 g (2 ¾ c) all-purpose flour
170 g (1 ¼ c) high gluten flour (we used Sir Launcelot from King Arthur Flour)
1 ½ t Kosher salt
¼ t citric acid
130 g (2/3 c) whey*
130 g (2/3 c ) lukewarm water
Olive oil
2 T semolina (for baking pan)
Hoagie Roll has open yet sturdy crumb, perfect for building a sub.
Method: mix yeast, sugar and ½ c lukewarm water in the bowl of a rotary mixer (Kitchenaid or equivalent) with dough hook. Rest 10 minutes until fizzy. Add all other ingredients except oil and semolina and mix on first speed till well blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl then knead on second speed 7-9 minutes. During this time the dough will become tight and cohesive and clean the sides of the bowl; don’t add more flour or water unless it’s goopy (+flour) or clumpy (+water) which would indicate a mixing error or an irregular batch of ingredients.
For our first hoagie, we made a rough approximation of this Dinic’s copycat Italian pork sandwich.
Remove the dough hook and remove the bowl from mixer. Shape the dough into a ball with your hands. Add a splash of oil and turn the ball to coat all sides. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise to 2-3 times its original volume, which should take 2-4 hours in a warm kitchen. Punch the dough down and give it a sequence of ten or so stretch-and-folds to develop tensile strength, then return to the bowl and cover. Allow to rise another 2 hours or so until doubled in size.
Shape the dough into six balls and rest 20 minutes or until the dough is sufficiently relaxed to work. Roll out into 9-inch torpedoes and transfer to a baking pan which you have sprinkled with semolina to avoid sticking. Cover with a towel and rest 30-45 minutes until the rolls become fluffy. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven with steam until lightly browned, about 40 minutes. (Difference vs baguettes: we removed the cover after 10 minutes, since we weren’t seeking a crispy crust.) Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
*Make your whey from full-fat yogurt (not Greek yogurt). Line a strainer with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and pour in the yogurt; drain overnight in the refrigerator. Collect the liquid in a pan below the strainer; this is your whey. Return the yogurt (which can now be considered Greek yogurt) to the container and use it as you normally do. If you end up with less than 2/3 c whey, add water to make up the difference.
