Pucce - Giant Bread Rolls from Puglia

Pucce pronounced as 'pu-chche' is a plural form of puccia 'pu-chchuh'.

Traditionally pucce are made with durum wheat semolina flour and baked in wood burning ovens. This gives them unique flavor and texture, which is hard to obtain in the electric oven BUT still possible.

In the recipe below you'll find all the details to make the most delicious pucce bread at home.

INGREDIENTS

• Durum wheat semolina flour – this is the key ingredient that gives pucce their characteristic flavor and light chewiness. Re-milled fine semolina works best but it can be substituted with more coarse semolina flour. You'll need it for the dough AND for dusting the work surface.
• Bread flour – use your trusted brand.
• Instant dry yeast – good quality instant dry yeast. Can be substituted with active dry yeast which needs to be first dissolved (activated) in lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar. You can also use fresh yeast (quantity of dry yeast indicated in the recipe multiplied by 3 by weight).
• Extra virgin olive oil – use high quality. You’ll need just a little for the dough but it will pay in full with the flavor.
• Water
• Salt

HOW TO MAKE - STEP BY STEP

• In a large mixing bowl add all flour, yeast and water. Give a quick stir then add salt and olive oil. 
• Mix well first with a fork then using your hands until all flour is incorporated.

• Make sure to scrape the bowl to get all the flour from the sides and from the bottom of the bowl.

• The dough will be uneven and that’s OK.
• Leave it in the bowl covered with a plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Fold the dough (1st time)

• Pull the dough from the side, stretch slightly and fold over itself in the center.
• A few inches apart from the first fold do the same manipulation, repeating the folding process as many times as needed to finish the dough.

• The dough will be considerably smoother and softer to touch.
• Cover with a plastic wrap and let rest for another 20-30 minutes.

Fold the dough (2nd time)

• Repeat the stretching and folding process as before.
• Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.

Fold the dough (3rd time) and let rise

• Repeat the stretching and folding process for the last time.
  The dough will be smooth and silky.
• Cover and let rise for 2.5-3 hours or until double in size.

Form the rolls

• Once the dough has doubled in size take it out form the bowl on a lightly floured surface. Fold over itself to form a log.
• Cut the log into 6 pieces, about 120 grams (4.5 ounces) each.

• Take each piece of dough and close its sides in the center, repeat this move a few times rotating the dough piece.
• Place the roll on the worksurface (no flour needed!) and cover it with your palm. Roll the dough under your palm applying some pressure until you get a smooth roll.

• Arrange the rolls distanced apart on a well floured worksurface (or on a baking sheet).
• Dust generously with semolina flour and cover with a plastic poly bag and a tea towel. Make sure there’s no air coming through the sides. If you don’t have a large poly bag it’s easier to arrange the rolls on a baking sheet: put 3-4 tall glasses in between the rolls (so the plastic wrap won’t touch the dough) and wrap the whole baking sheet in a plastic wrap. 
• Let the rolls rise for 1 - 1.5 hours or until almost double in size.

Preheat the Oven

The right oven temperature is the key for baking the perfect pucce in the home oven. 

• Place the baking sheet in the UPPER THIRD of the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 530F (275C) at least 30 minutes before baking pucce. If your oven can’t got that high, preheat it at the MAX temperature. Most ovens can be preheated to 480F (250C). In this case preheat at least 45 minutes in advance (and keep the oven on). You might also need to slightly increase the baking time. 

Shape and bake

• Place the dough roll on well floured surface and gently but firmly press the dough in the center using your finger tips.
• Continue flattening the dough in this way all around leaving the edge 0f about ⅓ inch. It should almost look like you’re making a small pizza.

Flip the dough and do the same on the back side trying to flatten as even as possible.

Baking time is 4-5 minutes. If the bottom is pale, flip pucce upside down and bake for another minute or two.

Form another pair of pucce and bake the second batch. Repeat the process with the rest of the pucce.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If pucce didn’t puff up in the oven or puffed only on one side it can mean two things.

1. The oven temperature was not hot enough. Try preheating the oven for longer time. Meaning even if it says it has reached the set temperature, let it preheat for another 30-45 minutes before baking the bread. You can also try baking just one puccia at a time instead of two.
2. The dough ball was not flattened out properly. The good thing is that with only one batch you can practice at least 6 times. So if the first puccia was not perfect try again with the next one.

HOW TO STORE

Let pucce cool completely and store them in bag at room temperature for 2 days. If you want the taste of puccia as if it was just baked, let them cool and put in a zip-lock bag in the freezer. I do this even for the bread I will eat the day after tomorrow.

You can take out as many pucce as needed. They thaw in 1-2 hours at room temperature.

WAYS TO ENJOY

Puccia is the ultimate sandwich bread, no questions asked.

But I’ve made them SOO many times that I ended  up experimenting way beyond the sandwich.

For example, you can cut pucce horizontally and toast them in the oven for the second time, just like with another apulian staple - friselle bread.

Toasted pucce make an excellent bed for tomato and basil bruschetta.

Street Food Icon

It was a pizza maker from Terpuzzi (near Lecce) who invented the modern version of pucce. Inspired by his aunts who prepared bread at home, dividing the dough into smaller pieces, he started doing the same with his pizza dough. Pleased with the result, he began selling those round buns, filling them with seasonal ingredients. It was a huge success, which initiated the diffusion of pucce as a street food for everybody. 
In puglia, pucce are sold in any bakery and also in some dedicated food venues called Puccerie, where people stop for a quick, puccia-based lunch or dinner.

More Italian Bread Recipes To Try

• Semolina Bread – fragrant, healthy and easy to make Sicilian bread with sesame seeds. These mini loaves are perfect for crostini.
• Focaccia Barese – focaccia with tomatoes and olives from Bari, made with real potatoes in the dough.
• Traditional Focaccia Bread {Focaccia Genovese} – thin, crunchy and soft inside.
• No Knead Focaccia - the easiest focaccia to make.
• No Knead Ciabatta Rolls – easy and delicious no knead ciabatta rolls perfect for panini.
• Homemade Ciabatta Bread – step by step recipe and video on how to make the most delicious ciabatta bread with big holes.
• Friselle Pugliesi – twice-baked Italian snack bread.
• Milk Bread Rolls {Panini Al Latte} – soft and fluffy milk rolls perfect for breakfast, party sandwiches, pigs in a blanket and more!
• Tuscan Bread {Pane Toscano} – salt-free Italian bread.
• Pagnotta {Italian Round Country Bread}