Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Roman Cloud Bread with Mixed Greens and Fennel Salad
This recipe is free for a limited time. 12 WEEKS FOR $1 TO ACCESS EVERY MILK STREET RECIPE. Learn More.
We learned about this unique take on Italian bread and salad, called panzanella nuvola di roma, from Angelo Arrigoni of Panificio Arrigoni, a 93-year-old bakery just outside the Vatican. The crisp yet pleasantly chewy, cracker-thin flatbreads are known as nuvola or “cloud” bread, a nod to their airy texture and puffy shape. Once cooled, the rounds are cracked open, creating a delicious bowl for bitter greens, often accented by resinous pine nuts and salty, nutty Parmesan cheese. Some bakery patrons slice off a “wedge,” yielding a portion of bread with salad inside; others simply tear the bread by hand and use it to scoop up salad. We found that a blend of bitter greens and sturdy romaine hearts, plus thinly sliced fennel, stood up best to our punchy lemon-anchovy dressing. The breads can behave somewhat unpredictably in the oven. Occasionally even within the same batch, three will puff impressively while the fourth... not so much. If you end up with a bread or two that puffs less, rather than crack it open and fill it with salad, simply break it in half or quarters and serve the pieces alongside. For make-ahead convenience, the baked breads will keep at room temperature for a few hours, but the salad won’t hold, so assemble it just before serving.
4
Servings
Don’t worry if you don’t have a baking steel or stone. An overturned baking sheet works well as a flat surface for baking the breads. A hot oven is important for proper puffing, so after slipping a dough round into the oven to bake, quickly close the oven door to prevent excessive heat loss.
2 hours
45 minutes active
-
274
grams (2 cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
-
1
teaspoon instant yeast
-
1
teaspoon table salt
-
¾
cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (100°F to 110°F)
-
Extra-virgin olive oil
-
2
small garlic cloves, finely grated
-
2-3
oil-packed anchovy fillets
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
-
⅓
cup extra-virgin olive oil
-
3
tablespoons lemon juice
-
1
romaine heart, cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces
-
4
cups lightly packed baby arugula, or radicchio cut into bite-size pieces, or a combination
-
1
small fennel bulb, trimmed, halved and thinly sliced
-
⅓
cup pine nuts, toasted
-
1
ounce Parmesan cheese, finely grated (½ cup), plus more to serve
-
01To make the bread, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, yeast and salt; stir with a wooden spoon. Add the water and stir, scraping the sides of the bowl, until a shaggy, slightly floury dough forms. Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead by hand until well developed and elastic, about 8 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky to start but will become less so with kneading; do not add more flour. Shape the dough into a ball; the surface will not be perfectly smooth. Wash and dry the bowl, then lightly coat it with oil. Return the dough to the bowl, turning to coat with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1½ hours.
-
02About 30 minutes into rising, position an oven rack about 6 inches from the element. Place a baking steel or stone or an inverted baking sheet on the rack and heat the oven to 450°F.
-
03When the dough has doubled in bulk, lightly dust the counter with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Using a knife, divide the dough into 4 pieces. Form each into a loose ball, then cover the balls with a kitchen towel; let rest for 15 minutes.
-
04Lightly flour the counter and set 1 ball on top; keep the remaining portions covered. Using a rolling pin, roll the ball into a thin round about 8 inches in diameter, dusting with flour as needed; it’s fine if the dough does not form a perfect circle. Lightly dust a pizza peel with flour, then transfer the dough to the peel; reshape the round if needed. Slide the round onto the baking steel and quickly close the oven door. Bake until the bread is puffed and deep golden brown in spots, 8 to 10 minutes.
-
05Using tongs, gently grip the bread and transfer to a wire rack. Shape and bake the 3 remaining dough balls in the same way. (The breads will hold well at room temperature for a few hours.)
-
06When you are ready to serve, make the salad. In a large bowl, combine the garlic, anchovies and 1 teaspoon salt. Using a fork, mash to a paste. Whisk in the oil, lemon juice and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Add the romaine hearts, arugula, fennel, pine nuts and Parmesan; toss well. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
-
07If desired, lightly brush the breads with oil. Place each bread on a serving plate. Using the blunt side of the blade of a chef’s knife, crack open each bread. Fill each bread with a quarter of the salad, allowing it to spill onto the plates. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan and serve right away.