Puffy Italian Sub Rolls.
Sometimes you just want a soft, puffy Italian sub roll that will soak up the dressing and yield without a crunch when you bite into it. This recipe fits the bill. It’s also much simpler and more straightforward than our hoagie rolls which are chewy and resilient. Makes 4-8 individual sub rolls.
Ingredients:
300 grams lukewarm water (about 1 ¼ c)
2 t (or one packet) instant dried yeast
1 T sugar
1 ½ t salt
500 g all purpose flour (about 3 ½ c)
1 T olive oil
Method: combine water, yeast and sugar in mixing bowl and allow the yeast to bloom for 5 minutes or so. Add flour and salt and mix the dough. Knead until gluten is well developed, about 8 minutes. You can also use an orbital mixer (KitchenAid) and do the first step at first speed and the kneading step at second speed. The dough should just clear the sides of the bowl after a few minutes kneading; if it is too sticky add a bit of flour or if too dry add a few drops of water to adjust.
Add the olive oil to the mixing bowl and turn the ball of dough to evenly coat all surfaces. Cover and rest until the dough has doubled in size and is quite puffy; on a warm day this might take as little as an hour. Shape into balls of even size depending on how many puffy sub rolls you are making. We started with this recipe which calls for 8 rolls but they are rather dainty at 100 g each; next time we will go for 4 rolls or maybe split the difference at 6 rolls.
This sub was made with 100g sub rolls so the ingredients are overflowing but it was mighty tasty.
Let your dough balls rest for a few minutes, then roll into cylinders that easily fit a half sheet pan—lengthwise for 4 rolls, crosswise for 8 rolls. Prepare the half sheet pan with a silicone pad or parchment paper dusted with cornmeal or polenta. Arrange the rolls on the pan, cover and rest 40 minutes or until they have expanded and regained their puffiness. At about 30 minutes, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake the rolls with steam* for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool to room temperature before enjoying.
*See this post and also this post for techniques for generating steam in a home oven. Steam is not as critical for these buns as for baguettes so don’t stress too much about it. Heart’s Content Farmhouse, linked above, puts a pan in the oven below the baking sheet and pours a cup of water into it. We’ve used this technique with modest success but it can’t hurt.
