The course of of creating Sardinian pane carasau is equally hypnotic to pitta: a disc of durum wheat dough is baked on a sizzling floor till it puffs up into an almost-ball. The rationale for this puffing is the distinction between the quickly drying floor of the dough and the evaporating water throughout the dough. The water turns into steam, inflicting the centre to balloon and the 2 layers to separate, making a pocket and making the entire thing look a bit like an inflated whoopee cushion.
So as to make pane carasau, which in Sardinia is a home, artisan and industrial artwork, the puffed-up dough is swiftly separated into two skinny discs with a pointy knife, then the discs are returned – probably folded in half or quarters – to the oven to dry and toast for a second time based on the maker’s style. Fortuitously for us, there are lots of of makers and the entire level of pane carasau, also referred to as carta di musica (music paper bread), is that it’s brilliantly transportable and enduring: it lasts and lasts, which is why it’s one among my favorite issues to have within the cabinet.
Pane carasau could be eaten in numerous methods: its crisp, brittle, cracker-like nature makes it a pure accomplice for cheese (and honey) and tender toppings; it will also be eaten like bread and crammed, dipped or damaged into soup or stews, or used as a part of a salad; or shortly immersed in chilly water (or handed below a operating faucet), which restores moisture, making the discs pliable sufficient to fold or roll round. Pane carasau will also be utilized in the identical method as sheets of pasta to make – and I’m impressed by the journal La Cucina Italiana right here – all kinds of lasagne. I’ve chosen to make one with a tomato sauce utilizing each contemporary and tinned tomatoes, mozzarella (it must be properly drained) and parmesan. Opinions differ as as to if it’s higher to make use of dry or barely damp pane carasau, however I’ve come to the conclusion {that a} combine is finest: three dry layers then a last damp layer, which ensures that the highest doesn’t dry out too quickly earlier than the cheese melts, and a golden crust kinds.
As with a basic lasagne, relaxation for 20 minutes or so after baking, so the flavours settle and the lasagne companies up. The wonderful thing about pane carasau is that it’s sturdy sufficient to keep up kind, however pliable sufficient to be minimize, and has a lightness normally discovered solely in expertly hand-rolled sheets of contemporary egg pasta. Serve minimize into squares with a inexperienced salad and a glass of Sardinian purple wine, comparable to Bovale Sardo or Cannonau.
Lasagne with Sardinian pane carasau
Serves 4
500g ripe tomatoes
5 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and gently crushed so damaged however nonetheless intact
400g tin complete plum tomatoes in juice
1 small purple chilli (contemporary or dried), complete or chopped in order for you extra warmth
Salt
8 basil leaves
180g pane carasau – search for it in Italian delis
400g mozzarella, drained and diced
80g parmesan
Peel the contemporary tomatoes by masking them with boiling water for 2 minutes, draining, then cooling below chilly water, at which level the skins ought to draw back simply. Chop the tomatoes roughly, discarding any robust bits.
Put the olive oil and garlic in a heavy-based pan, then put the pan on a low flame and heat till the garlic gently sizzles – watch out to not burn it. Add each the contemporary and tinned tomatoes, carry to a full of life simmer and cook dinner for quarter-hour. Add the purple chilli and a superb pinch of salt, then flip down the warmth and simmer gently for 45 minutes, utilizing the again of a wood spoon to interrupt up the tomatoes; add the basil for the final 10 minutes. The sauce needs to be wealthy, thick and glossy, with the oil forming a hoop on the edges.
Assemble the lasagne in a 20cm x 26cm baking dish: begin with a layer of sauce, cowl with a layer of pane carasau – this may be fairly patchwork and casual, with bits overlapping – then make one other layer of sauce, diced mozzarella and grated cheese. Proceed with one other three layers, wetting the ultimate layer of pane carasau very briefly below operating water and ending with a smear of sauce and skinny layer of grated cheeses. Bake at 175C (165C fan)/gasoline 3½ for 20 minutes, till golden.