This is a Simili sisters’ recipe, from their book: Bread and sweet things (Pane e roba dolce, Sorelle Simili).
Biga:
50 g bread flour
25 g water
2 g fresh yeast
Combine the ingredients and let rise overnight at room temperature (or 8-10 hours).
Final dough:
300 g flour
130 g water
10 g fresh yeast
30 g oil (or 15 g saindoux and 15 g oil) [ I used extra virgin olive oil]
5 g salt
biga
Sift the flour, add fresh yeast in small pieces and biga, add water and mix. Add the rest of ingredients and knead a smooth dough.
Divide dough in 70 g balls, pat to form an oval, roll to get a 2-3 cm diameter log and roll the log into a 0,5 cm flat dough sheet -“pastelle”.
Suggestions for rolling the rolls:
Crescent shape (croissant). Lay the stripe perpendicular. Keeping one end, roll up and unroll pushing to obtain a longer log, until reach middle, then just roll and unroll without pressing, pulling the other end, to obtain a crescent roll.
Small barrel. In the same way like crescent shape, but without pressing, you’ll get a simple roll.
Montasu. Lay the strip horizontal, start rolling from both ends, then roll and unroll with your thumbs, pulling outwards. Once you reach the middle, pull outwards both rolls, then twist and place the right side roll perpendicularly on the left side roll.
Artichoke. Just cut stripes of 1,5-2 cm wide, 1/3 (less than 1/2) on width. Simply roll, pinch end, place on baking sheet pressing a little on its base.
Mustafa. Lay the strip perpendicular, obliquely bent its two ends, start rolling with right hand, keep the other end with your left hand. Press, roll then unroll, like we did with crescent rolls, to get a long and thin roll.
Just roll, gently pressing and pulling outwards with your thumbs, like in Montasu shape.
Once we reach the middle, gently pull apart and lift the stripe in an Ω shape, then press the center.
Baking:
Place the rolls on a baking tray and let rise until double in volume. Bake at 200°c for 15 minutes.