Tuscan rosemary, raisin and olive oil bread

Pan di Ramerino is a Tuscan bread flavoured with rosemary (ramerino means rosemary in Italian), raisins and olive oil.  Originally it was a Florentine Easter tradition; street vendors would sell the large, fragrant buns as the congregations came out of church on the Thursday of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday in the UK).  Nowadays it can still be bought at Easter, but it is easily bought in bakers throughout the year as it is too delicious to keep for just one day a year!

On Friday morning I was up at the crack of dawn–in fact, I was up before dawn–as I had to let in the guy who was putting up our new fence in the back garden.  In a somewhat sleep-deprived haze, I decided that then would be the perfect time to bake.  While flicking through Culinaria Italy the other day I had spotted the Pan di Ramerino amidst a large array of Italian breads and the sweet and savoury nature of it intreigued me.  I’ve seen a few baking recipes that use rosemary, but I’ve never actually tried one out.

Alas, there was no recipe in Culinaria for the rosemary bread so I had to improvise somewhat.  I did take a quick peek at Ada Boni’s Italian Regional Cookery to confirm that it was just a plain white dough that I needed to make and then went boldly forward.

I used a scaled back version of my Farmhouse Bread dough, but removed the butter as plenty of extra-virgin olive oil would be worked in later.  In my sleep-deprived state, I forgot that the rosemary-infused oil would need time to cool down, so the dough was almost fully risen when I set out the pan to cool.  Whoops.  Don’t do as I do, do as I say and make the infused oil as soon as you’ve set the dough to rise.  You should probably avoid snoozing on the sofa between rises, too, unless your kitchen timer is aggravatingly loud.

Incorporating the oil into the dough was hard and messy work.  The dough rebelled against the large amount of oil and the dough turned very sticky and gloopy.  I found that the best thing to do was to trickle a little oil onto the dough, smooth it over the surface and then start to knead.  Rather like giving someone a massage, really.  By contrast, working in the sugar, salt and raisins was much easier.  I did have to sprinkle some extra flour over the dough as it was still a bit too sticky to shape.  All of a sudden the dough came together into a nice, plump, glorious ball and I quickly shaped it into eight balls.  A short rise, for which I managed to stay awake, and then into the oven.

The rosemary flavour was on the faint side in this batch of bread, so next time round I would chop some of the rosemary finely before infusing into the oil for a more pronounced flavour.  The aroma was great, though, and by the time the bread was cooling on a rack the whole house was beautifully perfumed.

I would definitely make pan di ramerino again.  The crumb of each bun was deliciously soft, slightly peppery from the good olive oil, beautifully fragranced with rosemary and subtly sweet.  With each bite the sweetness and the rosemary flavour (and aroma) built up on the palate.  The buns are actually pretty satisfying; I had one for lunch and didn’t feel the slightest hunger pangs until late afternoon.

Interestingly, before I mentioned the Easter connection to Dave, he commented that it tasted a bit like a Hot Cross Bun, and yes, they’re very similar actually.  Both have a sweet bread dough, dried fruit and a cross on top.  I love these little coincidences… I wonder which bread came first?

Pan Di Ramerino

Makes 8

• 500g bread flour
• 1 sachet (7g) easy-blend (instant) yeast
• approx 300ml warm water
• 70g caster sugar
• 80ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large sprigs of rosemary
• 150g raisins or sultanas
• generous pinch of salt

In a large bowl, stir the yeast and a teaspoon of the sugar into the flour.  Make a well in the centre and pour in about 100ml of the water.  Stir gently until absorbed and keep adding water, little by little until all the flour is moistened and you have a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and springy when pressed.  Return to a lightly-oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.

As soon as you’ve set the dough to rise, make the rosemary infused oil.  Strip the needles off the rosemary twigs and bruise with the base of a small pan.  A couple of whacks should do the job.  Put the needles in this pan along with the extra virgin olive oil.  Heat over a low flame for a couple of minutes until you can smell the rosemary and there are one or two small bubbles around the needles.  You don’t want to fry the rosemary, just to infuse it.  Turn the heat off and let the oil cool.  Once cooled, strain and set aside.

Line a large baking sheet with a Teflon sheet or baking parchment.  Preheat the oven to 200C (or 180C if fan-forced.)

Once dough has doubled in size, knock it back and turn it out onto a floured surface.  Slowly work in the oil.  The dough will rebel and go gloopy and squidgy, but persevere!  Eventually it will all go in, and yes, your hands will still be very sticky.  Resist the urge to wash your hands!  Knead (or squidge) in the sugar, salt and then finally the raisins.  Keep kneading and only add extra flour if it is still unreasonably sticky after 5 minutes, but try leaving it alone for a few minutes to rest first.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each into a ball.  Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing well apart to allow for rising.  Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise until almost doubled in size.  Remove the clingfilm and brush the top of each bun with a little extra olive oil.  Cut a cross in the top of each bun with a sharp knife or lamé if you have one and put in the oven immediately.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown, rotating the sheet half-way through to ensure even browning.  Cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

I am submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging, an event created by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen and hosted this week by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.