Cartocciate e Rollò
Cartocciate e Rollò·(car-toh-CHAH-teh eh roh-LOH)
Friday Night Street Food: Palermo in a Sheet Pan
If you grew up in a Sicilian-American house, the smell of slightly sweet dough, melting mozzarella, and savory ham is the ultimate trigger for nostalgia. This is the rosticceria—street food grabbed from glass display cases at any hour. Up in Palermo, they wrap this impossibly soft dough around hot dogs for Rollò. Down south in Catania, they stuff it with ham, cheese, and a single black olive for Cartocciate. The grandma secret? Lard and sugar. It sounds strange, but that sweet, rich dough against the salty fillings is the real taste of the homeland. Best of all, you can make the dough the night before and let the fridge do the heavy lifting.
Ingredients
- all-purpose flour4 cup
- whole milk1 cup
- granulated sugar2 1/2 tbsp
- instant yeast2 1/4 tsp
- lard1/4 cup
- kosher salt2 tsp
- tomato puree1/2 cup
- low-moisture mozzarella cheese1 cup
- deli cooked ham4 oz
- pitted black olives10 med
- hot dogs5 large
- large egg yolk1 large
- toasted sesame seeds2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Mix the authentic dough.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, sugar, and yeast. Turn the mixer on low and slowly stream in the warm milk. Once a shaggy dough forms, add the room-temperature lard in small pinches, allowing it to incorporate. Add the salt last, only after the dough has come together, so it doesn't kill the yeast. Knead on medium speed for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is incredibly smooth, elastic, and pulls away completely from the sides of the bowl.
- 02
Let the dough rise.
Form the dough into a tight ball, place it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours. If you are doing this on a weeknight, put the covered bowl straight into the fridge to rise slowly overnight, then pull it out 30 minutes before you want to shape it to take the chill off.
- 03
Divide and rest the dough.
Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a very lightly floured surface. Divide it into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a neat ball, cover them with a kitchen towel, and let them rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten.
- 04
Shape the Catanese Cartocciate.
Take 5 of the dough balls and roll each one into a circle about 1/4-inch thick. Place a scant tablespoon of tomato puree perfectly in the center, then top with a pinch of diced ham, a few cubes of mozzarella, and two olive halves. Fold the dough over into a half-moon shape and aggressively crimp the edges with a fork to completely seal in the filling. Place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan.
- 05
Shape the Palermitan Rollò.
Take the remaining 5 dough balls and roll each against the counter into a long, snake-like rope about 10 inches long. Wind the dough rope continuously around a hot dog from top to bottom, tucking the ends underneath. Gently roll the wrapped hot dog back and forth on the counter to seal the dough to the meat, then place alongside the Cartocciate.
- 06
Proof and glaze.
Cover the sheet pan lightly with a towel and let the shaped breads rise for 30 to 40 minutes until puffy. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Right before baking, generously paint the beaten egg yolk wash over all the pastries, and heavily sprinkle the Rollò with sesame seeds.
- 07
Bake to golden perfection.
Bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes until you achieve a deep, golden-brown, glossy crust and the cheese inside the Cartocciate is fully melted. Let them cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes before eating out of hand.
Notes
The cold ferment is your best friend.
Letting the dough rise in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours not only fits perfectly into a busy working parent's schedule, but the slow yeast metabolism actually improves the overall flavor of the dough.
Do not use fresh mozzarella.
Fresh mozzarella packed in water will dump excessive moisture into the Cartocciate, ruining the bake and causing blowouts. Standard low-moisture block mozzarella is exactly what you want here.