Chewy Italian Rolls {perfect with soup!}

I made these rolls last night to go with our Swedish meatballs & egg noodles.

So yummy!  And chewy!  And I think they would be even better with a hot bowl of soup.  So doing that next time.

You should make them this weekend for your hungry crew!

*The starter for this recipe needs to be made in advance!  I made mine right before I went to bed, easy-peasy.  It took all of about 3 minutes.

Here's the recipe!

Chewy Italian Rolls

Starter:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup water
1/8 tsp. instant yeast

Dough:
Starter (above)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. instant yeast

To make the starter:
In a bowl, mix all the starter ingredients.  Cover bowl and let rest at room temperature for 12-24 hours, until nice and bubbly.  (Think sourdough starter, just less work!)

To make the dough:
Mix together the starter and dough ingredients (I used my stand mixer w/ the dough hook).  Knead for 3-4 minutes until smooth and slightly sticky.  (You may need to add more flour or water, depending on your climate.  I had to add a tad more water.)

Put dough in greased bowl and cover.  Let rise for 1-2 hours, until very puffy.

Turn dough onto well-floured surface and shape into 6" x 12" rectangle.  Using a pizza cutter, cut 3" square(ish) rolls.  Place rolls, flour side up, on parchment paper.  Cover rolls and let rise until puffy in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Place oven rack (and stone, if you have one) to upper third part of oven.  Heat to 450.

Bake rolls for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.  (I put my rolls w/ parchment paper directly onto my stone.)  It worked out beautifully!  But a baking sheet would work just fine too.

Makes 8 rolls.





ENJOY, my friends!!



(Another great recipe from King Arthur Flour.)