Chie hat pane mai non morit.--Sardinia Proverb
One who has bread never dies.

In Sardinian bakeries there is a time honored tradition of elaborate and intricate decoration of celebration breads for weddings and also for Pasqua (Easter), called
Pane Pasquelina, or in local dialect known as Su Coccoi or Pane Coccoi.

The designs recall ancient symbols from the many cultural influences in Sardinia.  The shapes include the crown, wreathes, the chick, a girl, doves, fish, small baskets, fruits and flowers. Especially for Easter, whole eggs are incorporated into each design, sometimes hidden but often exposed within the design theme. These breads are considered symbols of fertility and good luck. When you look at the intricacies of these artisinal breads, it's surprising to think the only tools used are a small knife and scissors.

Two interesting shapes are called Sa Pippia and Lazzaro. Sa Pippia is a doll-shaped bread with seven legs, one for each day of the Holy Week. This bread was used as an Easter Advent Calendar, one leg given to a child each day leading up to Easter Sunday. Lazzaro represents the body of Lazarus wrapped in a shroud, a symbol of resurrection.

Watch as the Nonni teach the younger women how to create Pane Coccoi
and then bake them in a community oven.

If you'd like to try making these special breads, here is an authentic Sardinian recipe that I translated and converted...
Recipe

• 4 cups Semolina Flour (Pasta Flour) - holding back 1 cup flour to adding as needed
• 1 - 3/4 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon yeast  
• 1 teaspoon salt

You'll need a pizza stone to bake these breads.

1. Place the yeast into a small bowl with the water. Let it proof for 3-5 minutes
2. Put about 1 cup of the flour to start in a stand mixer, adding the salt, then turned on low, mix the dry ingredients. 
3. Add the yeast/water mix and mix well, slowly adding 1/2 cup of flour at a time until a dough ball begins to form. (The 1 cup of four can be added if needed, but keep in mind, you can always add, but you can't take it out if your dough gets too tough.)
4. As soon as the dough begins to take shape, start kneading the dough on low speed for 10-15 minutes. You need to obtain a homogeneous, elastic and consistent dough. It should not be stick, but you don't want it too dense, either. The dough should start to have a smooth surface and be elastic.
5. You can pull off a piece to test it: work it with your palms pushing away on your work table, until you you almost feel a crackle under your hands--air bubbles will burst. At this point, the dough is ready. Work the rest of your dough in the same way as your test piece.

Shaping the Dough

• Using scissors or a pasta cutter, cut and then roll out elongated cylinders. Keep the extra dough under plastic wrap as you work.
• Shape as you like using the scissors or a small paring knife.
• Place the freshly prepared breads on lightly floured kitchen cloths, cover them and let them rise for at least two hours.
• After the rise, handling them gently, you can use your knife or scissors to make further decorative cuts.

Baking
Preheat your oven to 450 F degrees with the pizza stone on the middle rack. Place a sheet pan on the bottom or lowest rack of your oven at this point.

I suggest using a pizza peel to transfer your breads into the oven and directly onto the pizza stone. If you don't have one, you can use an up-turned sheet pan lined with parchment paper (the paper will slide onto the stone with the dough). Alternately, sprinkle the back of the sheet pan with course cornmeal, then place your shaped breads on top. The cornmeal acts like ball bearings to slide your breads onto the stone.

I don't recommend baking your breads on pans simply because the pans would be cold when placed into the oven. If you do want to use pans instead of a pizza stone, use sturdy, heavy dark pans. They will heat up faster.

Just before placing your breads into your oven, pour about 1/4 cup of water into the hot sheet pan on the lower rack to create steam. Immediately shut the oven door.

Quickly transferring your formed breads into the oven, bake for the first 10 minutes at 450 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 F degrees and continue cooking for another 20-25 minutes. You might want to quickly spray some water onto the oven's side walls halfway through the baking.
Check the browning of the bread and adjust according to your oven. These breads should be a very light tan with a fine textured crumb interior.

Remove from the oven and place on cooling racks to dry and cool completely.


There is another version that adds eggs, so you can experiment in adding eggs while you compensate by adding more flour. You can still eyeball the smoothness and elasticity of the dough when mixing. Remember, making dough for breads and pizza is a feel thing, varying depending on the humidity of the day. 


Have a great celebration! Buona Pasqua!

--Jerry Finzi

You might also be interested in...

Our Pane di Pasqua Recipe
Vintage Italian Easter Cards
Decorated Italian Easter Eggs
How Italians Celebrate Easter
Celebrating Easter in Italy

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I remember one of the first times I had potato  gnocchi (pronounced "NYO-kee"), was at a New Jersey, Italian-American restaurant when I was a teen. I wasn't impressed. They were gluey and heavy. Perhaps they were frozen, but more than likely they had lost something in the translation from the old country. Still today, people in New Jersey might still pronounce them, "Nocky". In our family, we didn't have gnocchi until I was older. I remember one of my sisters making them on occasion. We nicknamed them, "sinkers" because they were so heavy.

Well into my 30s, and after I had learned how to cook pretty well, I asked my mother to teach me to make gnocchi--especially after learning that her mother, Nonna Mariantonia, had taught her. When I asked why she never made them when I was a kid, she just shrugged and said, "Sure, with all the free time I had raising five kids plus working all day?" She's right. She worked in a factory as a supervisor her whole adult life, yet somehow still managed to put dinner on the table for us after she got home. Better late than never, and I was eager to learn...

Ingredients (for two batches: one for eating fresh, the other for freezing)
4 pounds of Yukon Gold or similar yellow potato--stored 1 week in a dark place before using
1 egg yolk
2 whole eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons sea salt
"00" Italian style flour - 1/4 cup per pound of potatoes (or more, depending on humidity)
("00" makes a more tender gnocchi.)
Equipment needed
a Gnocchi board, or fork, fingers, or the back side of a cheese grater
 (each makes a different shape/texture)
2 half sheet pans
(For drying and for freezing half the batch)
Potato ricer (Do not use a masher)
cotton kitchen towels or parchment paper

My Mom didn't use a gnocchi paddle, or rigagnocchi. She used her fingers and the back of a fork. She actually taught me two methods for two different shapes--the back of a fork and her first two fingers. The fork makes ridges on the back side---good for holding a thick ragu. The two fingers made a sort of cavetelli shape, by taking a small cylinder of dough and pressing into it while dragging toward herself on the work surface. This made one smooth side and a little cave in the other--good for cream and thinner sauces. I can still remember Mom's bent, arthritic fingers rapidly producing them one by one. In this recipe, I'll be shaping with a fork and gnocchi board.

Shaping Gnocchi
As you shape your gnocchi, place them (not touching) on a cotton kitchen towel spread on top of a half sheet pan. Let them dry for 15 for about 1 hour before cooking. Then place them into a large pot of well-salted, rapidly boiling water, give a couple of gentle stirs, then cook until they all float to the top.

After all are floating, cook for another minute, then drain in batches using a spider, placing them into either a saucepan containing your preferred sauce, cooking and turning gently for a minute or two until the gnocchi have absorbed the sauce's flavors. Turn out into a pasta bowl, and top with your favorite cheese--Parmigiano-Reggiano, Pecorino, cacciocavallo, etc.

Freezing the Second Half of The Gnocchi
After the first half of your dough is finished, repeat and fill a second sheet pan, then let dry as with the first batch. The second pan can then be placed immediately into a freezer for a future meal. (If a half sheet pan won't fit, place the gnocchi on smaller trays that will fit).

After they are frozen rock solid (at least 10 hours), immediately place them into a large zip-lock plastic bag, squeeze to remove all the air and zip it closed. To prevent against freezer burn, place it into a second bag. 

Once you hone your gnocchi-making skills, you can experiment with all sorts of different types--pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, ricotta and more. Gnocchi are great with both simple sauces (like butter & sage or olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino) or complex sauces like bechamel, pestos or even ragu Bolognese.

Enjoy, and don't forget to let me know how yours turned out!

--Jerry Finzi

Ingredients
For the Custard

• 4 cups milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp All Purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Zest of 1 orange

For the Zeppole/Donut

• 6 Eggs (whole)
• 2 Cups All Purpose flour
• 1 - 3/4 cups Water
• 4 oz. Butter
• 1/2 Cup - Sugar
• Canola Oil for frying
• Blueberries, raspberries or candied cherries for decoration
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions
Custard Cream

1. Mix the flour and sugar in a pot and whisk until blended. Turn on the heat to medium.
2. Under medium heat, add the milk and whisk well.
3. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl and then whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into the eggs to warm them a little bit.
4. Lower the heat to low, then add the eggs into the mixture, whisking continuously as it starts to thicken.
5. Add the vanilla and orange zest and stir continuously until the custard thickens.
6. Allow the cream to cool before piping into the center of each cooled zeppola.

Zeppole

1. In a medium sized pan on medium heat, add the water and butter. Stir until the butter melts.
2. While stirring with a wooden spoon, slowly add the flour, letting it absorb the liquid until you obtain a firm ball. Mix the dough for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Place the dough ball into the bowl of a stand mixer and while mixing at low speed with a paddle, add the sugar, completely incorporating it into the dough.
4. Stop the mixer and let the dough cool off in the bowl for 15 minutes.
5. When the dough is completely cooled off, with the mixer on low speed, and add one egg at a time until each egg is completely absorbed by the dough. The resulting batter should be very soft.
6. Heat the canola oil in a deep fryer or large sauce pot (at least 3" deep) to a temperature of about 325 F degrees.
7. Cut several 4x4" squares of 4x4 of parchment paper (or foil will also work).
8. Place your dough into a large pastry bag with a large sized star tip and pipe out a 3-4" circular donut with a hole in the middle onto each piece of parchment.
9. While the zeppola is still on the paper, gently place it into the hot oil. Put no more than 2 at a time to prevent over-crowding and lowering the temperature of the oil too fast. The paper will quickly separate from the zeppola and you will be able to remove it with tongs.
   
10. Using a fry spider or large spoon with holes or slots in it, turn the zeppole several times until golden brown on both sides.
11. Remove the zeppole from the oil with the spider, and place on a plate lined with paper towels or brown paper to drain excess oil. Let the donuts cool when all are finished, then place on a serving tray ready for filling.
12. Put the cream in the pastry bag and fill the hollow center of each zeppola, mounding the custard higher than the donut.  Garnish with berries and dust with powdered sugar.

Serve for breakfast with some espresso or cappuccino  or have them for dessert with a glass of Prosecco...

Buon appetito!

--Jerry Finzi