Ingredients – serves 6 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 to 1/3 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 3/4 cups warm water Dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit until creamy and bubbly-about 10 minutes.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil to the dry ingredients and stir until a soft dough is formed.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and satiny, and not stick to the work surface.
Alternately, you can put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a standing mixer, add the yeast and olive oil, and stir well. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
The dough should be smooth and elastic, and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat all surfaces. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Heat a large (15-inch) griddle over medium heat until a drop of water jumps and sizzles.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide dough in half. Keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap.
Roll into a large circle, about 1/4-1/3 inch thick and 14 inch in diameter.
Carefully place the dough round on the hot griddle and poke it all over with a fork. Immediately turn heat to low and check after a minute or two to make sure it is just beginning to brown. After about 5 to 10 minutes, when the bottom is lightly browned, carefully turn it over and continue to cook until done, about 10-15 minutes more.
Check every 5 minutes by lifting an edge, to make sure it is not browning too quickly. It should be lightly browned and crusty with a soft center, when it is done. Remove from heat and cool on a rack. Punch down the remaining dough, shaping and cooking the torta as before. Cut into 6 wedges.
Split and fill with desired ingredients and eat slightly warm, or at room temperature. Cooled torta al testo can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days, or frozen up to a month. Reheat, wrapped in foil, in a 400° oven for 5 minutes.
If a 15-inch griddle is unavailable, divide the dough into thirds and use an 8-10 inch griddle.
* My friend, Christine Hickman, has very generously offered to share her torta recipe. My farmwomen neighbors all have learned to make torta from their mothers and grandmothers. So there is NO recipe. But Christine observed, learned and transcribed doses. This is her recipe, painstakingly calculated and based on her observations of donne umbre in cucina.
The recipe was published in November 2003 in an article on her in The Sant Fe New Mexican. Chris lives 6 months of the year in Santa Fe and 6 month here in Perugia, teaching cooking lessons in both places.
Look for her book-in-progress on gnocchi.
