Bagels in Italy

There have been some requests for my bagel recipe so here it is in English and Italian. If you look at the picture above, you can see examples of the homemade bagels (top left to the left of the syrup) we made for my birthday brunch last year.

Bagel recipe

Ingredients for 8 large bagels

1. 30 grams fresh yeast
2. 2 tablespoons of oil
3. 3 teaspoons of salt
4. 2 teaspoons of sugar
5. 1 teaspoon honey
6. 500 grams of flour

Preparation

1. Dissolve the yeast in 250 ml of warm water and add the oil.In a large bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and flour. Make a well in the center and add in the yeast mixture.

2. Mix together all ingredients, working in the flour on the sides of the bowl in order to get an even mixture. Get it all mixed together and worked into a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp towel for about 40 minutes and let it rise (it should double in size) in a warm place. Put a piece of wax paper on the baking sheet you’ll be using for the bagels.

3. Work the dough for about ten minutes. Divide it into 8 portions and make 8 little balls. Make a hole in the center of each ball and widen the opening until it begins to take the shape of a bagel.
Let the bagels sit on the warm towel for another 15 minutes while you heat the oven up to 200 degrees Celsius.

4. In the meantime, bring a large pan of water to a light boil (adding the 1 teaspoon of honey, which is my substitute for malt as I can’t readily find it here). Let each bagel boil lightly for about two minutes on each side and then take them out and put them back on the damp towel.

If you are adding sesame or poppy seeds, this is the point you’d add them (just sprinkle them on a plate and press each bagel down lightly over them).

After about five minutes and when the bagels are slightly cooler, you can put them on to the wax paper on the baking sheet and then into the oven for about 20 or 25 minutes until they are golden brown (but not too brown – they will get a bit browner after they’ve cooled) on each side You may need to flip them after about 10 minutes so they are cooked equally on both sides.

Whatever bagels I don’t eat right away, I cut in half and freeze (in a paper bag inside a plastic bag).

Ricetta in Italiano

Ingredienti per 8 bagel grandi
1. Lievito fresco 30 g
2. Olio 2 cucchiai
3. Sale 3 cucchiaini
4. Zucchero 2 cucchiaini + 1 cucchiaio per l'acqua
5. Farina 500 g

Preparazione

1 Sciogliete il lievito in 250 ml d'acqua tiepida, quindi aggiungete l'olio.In una ciotola unite il sale, lo zucchero e la farina, fate una fontana nel centro e versatevi il lievito.

2 Lavorate gli ingredienti incorporando anche la farina rimasta sui lati della ciotola fino ad ottenere un impasto omogeneo.Impastate per 10 m., formate la palla e lasciatela riposare nella ciotola.

Copritela con un canovaccio umido e fatela lievitare in un luogo caldo per 40 m. circa finché raddoppierà di volume. Foderate 1 piastra con della carta da forno.

3 Lavorate la pasta per 10 m., dividetelo in 8 porzioni e con queste formate delle palline. Forate il centro di ogni pallina con il dito, quindi allargate l'apertura finché diventerà simile ad una ciambella. Disponete i bagel su un canovaccio umido e lasciateli lievitare per 15 m.
Preriscaldate il forno a 200 °

4 Nel frattempo, portate a leggera ebollizione una pentola d'acqua (con 1 cucchiaio di zucchero o miele) e immergetevi i bagel, 2 minuti per lato, quindi adagiateli sul canovaccio umido.

Lasciateli raffreddare per 5 m., e infornateli per 20/25 m. fino a dorarli.