Name: Panini di Pasqua (Spicy Easter Rolls)
Yield: Makes 16 rolls
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ½ cup milk plus 2 tablespoons, warmed to 105° to 115°F. for active dry yeast, 95° to 105°F. for fresh yeast; 1 tablespoon active dry yeast or 1⅓ cakes (½ ounce) fresh yeast; 3 juniper berries, flattened with the side of a cleaver; 1 egg white; 1½ teaspoons cinnamon; ¾ teaspoon ground coriander; ½ teaspoon sea salt; ½ teaspoon ground cloves; 5 tablespoons Vin Santo; Sponge; 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 2¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon (14 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons for the raisins; A large pinch of saffron; if you are using threads, dissolve them in the Vin Santo; ⅔ cup plus 2 tablespoons water reserved from soaking the raisins; ¾ cup (3½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour; 2 cups (10 ounces) raisins

Preparation info

Makes
16
rolls

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

In Nonna's Kitchen

By Carol Field

Published 1997

About

These spicy Easter rolls are like hot cross buns with a lot of character. They are eaten with a hard-boiled egg in Arezzo and surrounding areas on the day of Easter, but I would eat them all year round. The dough is essentially the bread of every day with the addition of such special ingredients as Vin Santo and saffron and a number of tantalizing spices that include cloves, cinnamon, coriander, and even juniper berries. Two millennia ago, Romans sprinkled flowers and powdered saffron on th