WHEN THE BREAD IS GONE—MAKE MOLLETES

Baking bread in an emergency. These are molletes, soft sandwich buns, typical of Andalusia.

It’s finally happened—we’ve run out of bread. I bought two big country loaves when I shopped last week and stashed them in the freezer. But two guys (Ben and grandson Leo) making sandwiches quickly finished the supply. It will be several days before one of us goes out to shop. Looks like it’s time to make bread.

When my kids were growing up (in the 1970s), I baked bread once a week. We had a buying cooperative to purchase wheat in quantity, taking turns to take it to a small mill in a nearby town. The fresh, whole-grain flour was divided between several families. I got masa madre (sourdough starter) or fresh yeast from a local panadería (bread bakery). I rarely make bread anymore. But here we go!

Luckily, I have both yeast and bread flour in the pantry. There’s no shortage of yeast in my locality, so I´m not joining the sourdough brigade just yet.

Since the kids are into sandwiches, I decided to make molletes, sandwich buns. Yes, Spain has marvelous crusty rolls, but these are not them. Molletes have a soft crust and spongy crumb. And pale. They are not golden-toasty. They’re floury-white. Molletes just beg to be toasted or grilled, whole or split.

Traditional breakfast: mollete with olive oil.

A bread made traditionally in the inland Málaga town of Antequera, the mollete has become popular throughout Andalusia. Stop at a roadside venta for breakfast (oh, wait, I’m forgetting that you’re not allowed to be out on the carretera, nor are restaurants open yet), and an option is toasted mollete served with olive oil, tomato and thinly sliced serrano (or ibérico) ham.

Top the mollete with tomato or ham or both.

But molletes lend themselves to any sort of filling. They are perfect hamburger buns. They are a traditional bun for spreading pringá, the fatty meats and sausage left from puchero.

Store molletes in a cloth bag. They don’t keep more than a couple of days but can be resuscitated by toasting. Toast them, split, in a toaster or on a ridged grill pan.

Variations on the theme: Substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white bread flour. Add sesame seed or cumin to the dough. Make black buns by mixing squid ink into the dough. (Yes, I have sampled such a thing.)  I'm supposing that all-purpose flour would work for these buns, if you don't have bread flour.

A perfect breakfast, lunch or snack--split and toasted mollete with olive oil, tomatoes and ibérico ham.

Or, serve the mollete with semi-cured goat cheese. Raw onions, if you like.

Molletes are the perfect burger buns. Toast them in the toaster or on a ridged grill pan.

Sandwich Buns
Molletes

About yeast: Fresh yeast comes in a cake and is easy to crumble. Keep it refrigerated up to 2 weeks or in the freezer. To activate the yeast, use water hot from the tap or heated so that you can comfortably stick your fingers into it—about 110ºF. To substitute active dry yeast, use 1/3 of the amount of fresh yeast or, in this recipe, about 1 teaspoon dry (about half of an envelope of dry yeast) for 1 tablespoon of fresh.  

Flatten balls of dough to oval or circle.

To bake: Roll dough into balls and flatten them into ovals or rounds. Place them on baking sheets lined with parchment and sprinkled with a little flour or fine semolina. Dust the tops of the buns with additional flour. Spray them lightly with water. Bake the buns on a single rack in the lower part of a preheated oven. (Use a pizza stone if you have one.) 

Makes 8 buns. 

½ ounce fresh yeast (approx. 1 tablespoon, packed)
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cups hand-hot water (about 110ºF)
4 ¼ cups bread flour + additional for board and pans
2 teaspoons salt
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Flour or fine semolina for baking sheets
Water to spray buns

Crumble yeast into a small bowl. Add the sugar and 1/3 cup of warm water. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Allow to set 5 minutes.

Mix yeast and flour.

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the salt. Make a well in the center and add the remaining 1 cup of warm water and the yeast-water. Use a wooden spoon or paddle to combine the flour and liquid. Mix until it comes together in a ball and all of the flour is combined. Allow the dough to rest 15 minutes.

No flour to knead. Dip hands in oil to prevent sticking.

Place the oil in a shallow bowl alongside the work surface. Scrape the dough onto the board. Dip palms in oil and knead the dough for 3 minutes. As dough becomes sticky, use more oil on the hands. Don’t add additional flour on the board. Gather the dough again into a ball and allow it to rest 15 minutes.

Again, dip hands in oil and knead the dough until smooth and glossy, using more oil as needed. Rest the dough 15 minutes. Repeat the kneading one more time.

Use the oil to grease the mixing bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl, turning it once to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a clean cloth and place in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Dough rises 2 hours.

Dough before rising.

Line two baking sheets with parchment. Sprinkle them lightly with flour or semolina.

Buns are ready for the oven. Traditional molletes are oval; round ones are fine too.

Punch the dough down. Lightly flour the board. Turn the dough out. Knead once more until smooth. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and roll them into balls. Press the balls to flatten them into ovals approximately 4 ½ X 3 inches. Place them 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Dust the tops lightly with flour and cover with cloth. Let them rise 15 minutes while oven heats.

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

Remove cloth from one baking sheet. Spray or sprinkle the tops of the buns very lightly with water. Place the sheet in the lower part of the oven. Bake 5 minutes.

Repeat with the second tray, raising the oven temperature again to 425ºF before baking the buns.

Baked buns are pale, not browned, and crust stays soft.

Freshly baked molletes.

More ways to use mollete buns:

Kale and Walnut Sandwiches.

Serrano Ham, Pork Loin, Green Pepper Sandwich (Serranito)

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Lockdown update: Starting today, I get to go outside of the house! Mayores (persons over 70) can now go for a walk—from 10 am-12, or from 7 pm-8. Ben can, supposedly, go surfing (from 6 am-10 or from 8 pm- 11), but he’s not allowed to get in a car to get to the coast. (Travel to purchase food or medicine has been permitted all along. In fact, I'm not cooped up in an apartment, but can range around my olive grove and garden.) Lockdown—with gradual easing of restrictions—is to be extended for another two-week period.

The incidence of new cases of coronavirus in Spain peaked on March 26. Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha have had the highest rate of mortality up until now (125 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants). The region where I live, Andalucía, has one of the lowest mortality rates due to the virus, 15 per 100,000 persons.

THE CUPBOARD IS ALMOST BARE

Cazuela de fideos--noodles cooked with seafood in the Málaga style. This version is with sea scallops.

By the end of the second week of lockdown, it’s definitely time for another run on the supermercado! The cupboard is almost bare. We’re down to bare bones. But, I’m not scraping the bottom of the barrel. In a reverse operation, I’m using my stash of foods kept just for special occasions. This is certainly a "special occasion," if not the sort I originally had in mind.

I’ve defrosted a bag of plump sea scallops, a shellfish I adore. I used to buy them fresh, but they seem to have disappeared from local markets. I occasionally splurge on frozen ones.

I’ve also discovered in the freezer two small containers of shrimp broth (made from the heads and tails of fresh shrimp) and a bag of baby fava beans. Favas are in season now, but I´m not growing them this year. These are left from a previous year. In the cupboard, a packet of fideos, thin soup noodles, and some canned tomatoes.

My ingredients suggest a cazuela de fideos, a Málaga-style seafood and noodle casserole. Instead of the traditional version, with clams or bacalao (salt cod), this one, with scallops, will be special.

Noodles and sauce cook together. They are served juicy, not soupy.

A sprig of fresh mint is the finishing touch. My version has baby fava beans and, instead of peas, a garnish of snow peas from my garden. (So nice to have fresh vegetables, even when shopping is circumscribed.)

Plump scallops come with the coral or roe.

The fideo noodles cook right in the liquid (flavorful stock). A sofrito of onions, garlic and tomatoes fried in olive oil makes the flavor base. (The sofrito can be made in advance.) Cook the noodles in a clay cazuela if you have one or use any heavy pan.The finished noodles should be juicy, saucy, not soupy. A sprig of fresh mint is the typical garnish, making the dish truly “Málaga style.”

Potato is typical in this dish, yes, with pasta. Also typical are peas, fava beans, artichokes. I scattered the tiny (defrosted and peeled) favas on top of the fideos, like a garnish. Fresh ones can be cooked with the noodles. I also considered pureeing them with mayonnaise and garlic to make a green-tinged alioli to serve alongside.

Scallop and Noodle Casserole
Cazuela de Fideos con Vieiras

1 medium potato, cut in ½-inch dice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sea scallops (3-4 per person)
1 clove garlic, crushed
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, lightly crushed
8 ounces (about 2 cups) fideo noodles or spaghetti broken into short lengths
¼ cup thick sofrito (recipe follows)
3 cups shrimp, fish or clam broth
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup cooked fava beans or peas
Snow peas, blanched
Sprigs of fresh mint

Fideo noodles come in various sizes, from thin angel's hair to thicker. This medium noodle is perfect for the cazuela and also for soups. Use spaghetti broken into short lengths, if fideos are not available.

These are thawed baby fava beans. Blanching splits the outer skins, making them fairly easy to peel. The skinned beans are vivid green, a nice contrast with noodles.

Par-boil the diced potatoes for 2 minutes. Drain and reserve them.

Heat the oil in a cazuela or heavy pan. Sauté the scallops with the clove of garlic on medium heat, turning to brown them lightly on all sides. They should be just cooked through. Remove the scallops from the pan. (Leave the garlic in the pan.)

Add fideos to the oil in the cazuela, then add the sofrito and broth. The pasta cooks in the sauce.

Sprinkle the saffron into the oil in the pan. Stir in the fideos and potatoes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the sofrito and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so liquid bubbles gently. Season with salt and pepper. (If broth and sofrito were salted, additional salt may not be needed.) Cook, stirring occasionally, until fideos are al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 6 minutes.

Place the sautéed scallops and fava beans on top of the fideos. Cover the pan and allow to set 5 minutes.

Serve the fideos and scallops garnished with snow peas and sprigs of mint.

Thick Sofrito with Canned Tomatoes
Sofrito con Tomates en Conserva

Sofrito usually is made with fresh tomatoes. Here's a recipe for making it with canned tomatoes. You only need half of this thick sofrito paste for the fideos recipe. Store the rest in the fridge for use in another recipe. 

Makes ½ cup thick sauce.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
¼ cup chopped green pepper (optional)
1 cup drained and crushed canned tomatoes
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dry Sherry

Fry the onions and tomatoes until all liquid is cooked away.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Sauté the onion, garlic and green pepper on medium heat until softened, 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-high until all of the liquid is cooked off and the vegetables begin to “fry” again in the oil.

Add the Sherry, raise the heat and cook off all the liquid. Let the mixture just begin to brown. Remove from heat.

Puree the sauce in a mini-processor.

More recipes with scallops:

Galician Style Scallops.

Almond Soup with Scallops.

More recipes for fideo noodles:

Seafood Pasta Paella (Fideuá).

Fideo Noodles with Tofu.

Shrimp and Fideo Noodle Salad.

Soup with Fideo Noodles (Cocido).

More about sofrito here.