Filoni ripieni (Italian style stuffed baguettes)

With

Silvia Colloca

Warm Italian baguettes split and packed with tomato, stracciatella and olive oil.

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About this recipe

Silvia Colloca's Italian stuffed baguettes split warm from the oven and packed with sliced tomato, stracciatella and good olive oil. Simple bakery-counter food from the south, the bread crust still crackling. Lunch at its most direct.

Filone (plural filoni, literally large loaves) is the broader Italian bread category that includes baguette-shaped artisan loaves from across the country. The Pugliese filone is the most famous regional version, with a thick, slightly chewy crumb and a hard, blistered crust. The dough is made with flour, water, yeast and salt, with no fat or sugar; the result is a pure bread flavour that holds for two days without going stale.

The Laucke Crusty White Mix flour blend is the home-baker shortcut that delivers proper bakery-counter results without the technical demands of building a starter from scratch. The mix already includes the right combination of strong flours and bread improvers to develop the elastic gluten and crisp crust that defines an Italian filone.

The stuffing is the southern Italian street-lunch convention: cut the warm bread open lengthwise, slick the inside with olive oil, layer with sliced tomato (salted briefly to release the juice), stracciatella by the spoonful, fresh basil leaves, sea salt flakes and black pepper. No mayonnaise, no mustard, no other condiments. The bread, the cheese, the tomato and the oil are the four ingredients; the quality of each makes or breaks the sandwich. Cut into thick pieces, eat with hands.

Ingredients

For the dough:

600 g Laucke Crusty White Mix flour
350 ml lukewarm water
2 teaspoons dry yeast
Extra Laucke Crusty White Mix flour (for dusting)

My Ultimate stuffed Filone:

Monini Classico & Squeezable Extra-virgin Olive Oil (for drizzling)
Salt (for seasoning)
2-3 ripe tomatoes (sliced)
200 g Floridia Stracciatella
Pickled vegetables (e.g., preserved artichokes, grilled zucchini strips, or any of your choice)
150 g D’Orsogna coppa (thinly sliced)
rocket
This will yield 3-4 panini when cut. Enjoy!

Method

For the dough:

Mix the dough iIn a large bowl, whisk together the flour and dry yeast. Gradually add the water, mixing with your hand or a wooden spoon until you have a rough, shaggy dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes or until smooth. Let the dough rest in a bowl with some olive oil, covered, for 30 minutes.
After the rest, wet your hands with a bit of water to prevent sticking. To strengthen the dough, gently stretch one side of the dough upwards and fold it over the centre. Repeat this process with the remaining sides, folding each towards the centre. Flip the dough over so the seam is on the bottom. Repeat this stretch and fold process two more times, every 30 minutes, for a total of three times. After the last fold, cover the dough and let it rise until it roughly doubles in size.
Shape the filoni . Lightly flour your surface and gently turn out the dough. Divide it into two equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, gently stretch the dough into a rough rectangle (about 20–25 cm long). Starting from a long edge, roll it up tightly into a log, then taper the ends slightly with your hands to get that classic filoni shape.
Repeat with the second piece. Place the shaped loaves seam-side down on a tray lined with parchment paper and dusted with extra bread flour. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let rise for 30–40 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 230°C. Place a baking tray on the middle rack of the oven, allowing it to heat up. Once the loaves have risen, gently transfer them onto the hot tray. Use a sharp blade or a lame to score the top of each loaf with 3–4 slashes, spaced evenly and spritz with some water.
Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown and crisp. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing or stuffing.

My Ultimate stuffed Filone:

Slice off the top of your filone, drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and a slight sprinkle of salt. Arrange the tomato slices on top, season them lightly with salt. Place a sliced up buffalo mozzarella on top of the tomatoes, pickled vegetables of your choice (like preserved artichoke quartered or preserved grilled zucchini strips), finally top with plenty of coppa. Cut the stuffed filone onto 3-4 panini , ready to serve.

Silvia Colloca

Silvia Colloca is a Roman-born cook, opera singer and cookbook author who has spent the last decade documenting the regional cooking of Italy from her home in Sydney. She fronts Silvia’s Masterclass, working through the country one mother-recipe at a time. Her style is patient: fresh pasta by hand, long-rise focaccia, sauces built slow.