Sage Ciabatta Rolls

As I left to come back into New York the day after Thanksgiving, my mother packed me all her leftover fresh herbs that she had bought for Thanksgiving dinner. Sage was the one I was most excited to experiment with.

So, Saturday morning, when my dogs woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep (a very regular weekend occurrence), I decided to take advantage of those under-used Saturday morning hours and bake bread. All in all, not a bad idea -- by the time the bread was in the oven, I could smell it all through my apartment. Some people have macaroni and cheese, or chicken soup, as their comfort food. For me, it's bread, all the way.

Sage Ciabatta Rolls

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 cup of 100% whole wheat flour

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of hot water (110 degrees)

1 package of instant yeast (11 grams)

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup fresh sage leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a food processor, mix white flour, wheat flour, salt, sugar, sage and yeast.

3. Turn on faucet until water is as hot as it gets. Measure a cup of water and add water to the flour mixture and knead until blended. Add olive oil and knead for 2-3 minutes more, or until blended (the dough is very sticky at this stage).

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl, coating all sides of dough. Cover bowl with saran wrap, and let rise somewhere warm for 20 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.

5. Punch down dough. On a well-floured surface, pull off approximately 3/4 cup of dough and form into a rounded or oval roll shape. Coat roll dough with flour, and place on a greased cookie sheet.

6. Repeat with the remainder of the dough. There should be approximately 12 rolls total.

7. Cover all the rolls with saran wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes, or until doubled again.

8. Bake bread for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms of loaves are golden.