Chef Graziella
Pane Siciliano con Sesamo
The sesame-crusted bread of Sicily, where Arab traders left their mark on Italian tables centuries ago. Golden semolina dough beneath a generous blanket of toasted seeds.
Culinary Explorer
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Muffuletta Siciliana
Created by
The sesame-crusted bread of Palermo, soft as a whisper and covered in seeds that toast golden in the oven. These are the rolls Sicilians break for their beloved dead and for their living families.
Breads
Italian, Sicilian
Holiday
Make Ahead
30 min
Active Time
25 min cook•3 hr total
Yield8 rolls
In Palermo, on the second of November, the dead return to bring gifts to children and bread returns to the table in this form: round, soft, golden with sesame. Muffuletta is not bread you slice. It is bread you tear, bread you stuff, bread you share with those who gathered to remember.
The dough is simple. Flour, water, yeast, a touch of olive oil for tenderness. What makes muffuletta muffuletta is the sesame. You press the shaped rounds into a plate of seeds so thick they coat the surface completely. When the bread bakes, the seeds toast and perfume the kitchen with that unmistakable nutty warmth.
Sicilian bakers use semolina in their bread doughs, as southern Italian bakers have done for centuries. The durum wheat gives structure and a faint golden color to the crumb. Do not substitute. The flour matters. The time matters. The bread emerges from the oven and must cool before eating, though the temptation to tear one open immediately will be considerable.
Muffuletta belongs to the Festa dei Morti traditions of Palermo, where November 2nd brings families to cemeteries bearing flowers and returns them home bearing bread. Sicilian bakers shaped these soft rounds for centuries before Sicilian immigrants carried the tradition to New Orleans, where the bread found a second life beneath layers of cured meats and olive salad.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bread flour
Quantity
400g (about 3 cups)
fine semolina
Quantity
100g (about 2/3 cup)
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
instant yeast
Quantity
7g (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
sugar
Quantity
10g (about 2 teaspoons)
warm water
Quantity
300ml (about 1 1/4 cups)
38°C/100°F
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
30ml (about 2 tablespoons)
sesame seeds
Quantity
150g (about 1 cup)
for coating
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bread flour | 400g (about 3 cups) |
| fine semolina | 100g (about 2/3 cup) |
| fine sea salt | 10g (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) |
| instant yeast | 7g (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) |
| sugar | 10g (about 2 teaspoons) |
| warm water38°C/100°F | 300ml (about 1 1/4 cups) |
| extra virgin olive oil | 30ml (about 2 tablespoons) |
| sesame seedsfor coating | 150g (about 1 cup) |
Equipment Needed
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Wire cooling rack
- •Rimmed baking sheet
- •Parchment paper
- •Two shallow bowls for water and sesame
Instructions
- 1
Mix the dough
In a large bowl, whisk together the bread flour, semolina, salt, yeast, and sugar. Make a well in the center. Pour in the warm water and olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains. The dough will be slightly sticky. This is correct.
- 2
Knead until smooth
Turn the dough onto a clean work surface. Knead for 10 minutes, pushing with the heel of your hand, folding, turning. The dough will become smooth, supple, and slightly tacky but not sticky. It should spring back when pressed. If your arms tire, you are doing it correctly.
Do not add flour during kneading unless the dough is impossibly wet. A slightly tacky dough produces tender bread. A dry dough produces tough bread. - 3
First rise
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The dough is ready when you press it with a floured finger and the indent remains.
- 4
Divide and shape
Turn the risen dough onto your work surface. Do not punch it down violently. Press gently to release the largest air bubbles. Divide into 8 equal pieces, about 100g each. Shape each piece into a tight ball: cup your hand over the dough and move it in small circles against the work surface until the ball is smooth and round with surface tension.
- 5
Coat with sesame
Pour the sesame seeds into a shallow bowl. Fill another shallow bowl with room temperature water. Working with one ball at a time: dip the top of the dough ball into the water, shake off excess, then press the wet side firmly into the sesame seeds. The seeds should coat the surface completely. Place seed-side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing rolls 3 inches apart.
Do not be timid with the sesame. The coating should be thick and generous. Stray seeds will toast on the pan and can be brushed off later. - 6
Second rise
Cover the shaped rolls loosely with a kitchen towel. Let rise until puffy and nearly doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour. The rolls should look soft and pillowy. While they rise, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 200°C (400°F).
- 7
Bake until golden
Bake the rolls for 22 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the sesame seeds are golden and the rolls sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. The crust should be firm but not hard. The interior will be soft.
If the sesame seeds brown too quickly, tent the rolls loosely with aluminum foil for the final minutes of baking. - 8
Cool before serving
Transfer the rolls to a wire rack to cool completely before eating. The interior structure needs time to set. Patience. I know the smell makes this difficult. Tear them open when cool and stuff with mortadella and provolone, or with panelle and a squeeze of lemon. Or eat them plain with good butter. They are worthy of all three.
Chef Tips
- •Sicilian bakers use semola rimacinata, a finely ground durum wheat semolina. Standard fine semolina from a well-stocked grocery works. Do not use coarse semolina meant for pasta.
- •The sesame seeds must be raw, not toasted. They will toast in the oven. Pre-toasted seeds burn and turn bitter.
- •For the traditional Palermo preparation, split the cooled rolls and fill with thin slices of mortadella, fresh ricotta, and a drizzle of olive oil. The combination of soft bread, fatty pork, and creamy cheese is why this bread has endured.
- •If making these for All Souls' Day as tradition demands, bake them the night before. They keep well for two days in a paper bag at room temperature.
Advance Preparation
- •The dough can be made the night before and refrigerated after the first rise. Punch down, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 18 hours. Let the dough come to room temperature for 1 hour before shaping.
- •Baked rolls keep for 2 days at room temperature in a paper bag. They can be refreshed in a 175°C (350°F) oven for 5 minutes if they have gone slightly stale.
- •The rolls freeze well for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and refresh briefly in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 roll (about 110g)
Calories
370 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
53 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
11 g
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