Eva from Sweet Sins is the host of the 6th edition of Bread Baking Day. She invites us to do special shaped breads. Last year when I was in Italy I bought some Manitoba flour, a good opportunity to use it before it expires.

Manitoba flour is obtained by milling and processing varieties (cultivar) of wheat grown in North America, which originally come from the Canadian region of Manitoba (the name derives from the Native Indian tribe that lived in that area). When mixed with water, these types of flour have the special characteristic of forming a very high quantity of gluten during the kneading and cooking of the bread. These flours are termed "strong " or "high strength" to distinguish them from other types of wheat flour which are moderate or low strength. In Italy, Manitoba flours are often mixed in with Italian-produced flours in order to obtain a specific strength of dough and thus the type of bread desired (Pugliese, pizza dough, French baguettes, fancy breads, etc.). This mixing process is carried out directly by the mills, who then indicate the final "strength" of the flour on the bags (it is termed "Value W," but in general it is indicated on the packaging with the words "special preparation" for bread, pizza or cakes).
Source

It's evident to make Italian Bread with this special flour, isn't it?. As I have only one bag of Manitoba I mixed it with "normal" flour. If you don't have access to Manitoba flour you can use any kind of strong wheat flour or just add some gluten to your everyday flour.

I halved the dough and formed one bread and 5 rolls such as Montasù and Mantovanine.

Italian "Flower" Bread and Rolls
makes 1 loaf and 5 rolls

250 g Manitoba flour
250 g Flour
50 g firm sourdough
1 tb malt
250 g water
20 g soft butter
12 g fresh yeast
10 g salt

Dissolve yeast in some of the water, with the rest of the water dissolve sourdough.

Mix flours and malt. Add dissolved yeast and sourdough and butter and mix on low speed 1.5 (Bosch MUM 8) for 4 minutes. Add salt and mix another 8 minutes on a higher speed 2 (Bosch MUM 8). Dough should be smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hour.

Divide the dough into 500 g and 300 g pieces. With the bigger dough make the "Flower".

Flower Bread:

How to shape the "Flower" Bread - he following process can be seen in the slideshow:

Roll the dough into a rectangle. Leave the upper and lower border a bit thicker. Roll up and cut with a scissors into 6 pieces. Place the pieces on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for about 40-60 minutes. Decorate with pumpkin seeds.

Preheat oven to 230 C. Mist water inside the oven with a spray. Bake "flower" bread for 17 minutes. Remove and cool.

Rolls:

How to shape the Montasù - the following process can be seen in the slideshow:

Divide the dough into 5 pieces, flatten each piece fold it twice, turn and roll into a long rectangle. Roll up from both side. Turn 1 roll and fix it with your thumb.

How to shape the Mantovanine:

Instead of rolling up both side just make one roll. Make a slash in the middle before baking.

Let rolls rise for about 40 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 230 C. Remove and cool.

More entries and recipes in English.

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