Looking for a good Portuguese roll recipe?
Mozambique has deep connections with Portugal, especially when it comes to food. At Fire Island, the chefs combine their food knowledge and passion with the natural ingredients made available to them, to provide a culinary journey to visitors.
From prawns to bread, why not learn how to make Portuguese rolls from the pros themselves.
Helio Odorico Minguante is the resident head chef at Loggerhead and Villa Ukuthula for two years. Helio is passionate about food and using natural ingredients to create exceptional dishes.
As the head chef at both establishments, he continuously WOW’s guests with his flavourful creations – from barbecued seafood to wholesome, slow cooked dinners – his understanding of flavour profiles enables guests to experience Mozambique from a unique and delicious perspective.
One staple on the Villa Ukuthula and Loggerhead menu is perfectly home-baked Portuguese bread. Floury, crispy and soft – all at the same time – a good Portuguese roll pairs perfectly with any of Helio’s delicious dishes.
With the pandemic restricting our travel, getting to one of the Fire Island Villas is not an option right now, but it doesn’t mean you can’t bake these Portuguese rolls in your own kitchen.
500gr flour
800ml warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 pk dry yeast
1 tsp oil
Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Add yeast to warm water to activate
Add dry ingredients to bowl
Add warm water (with yeast)
Knead the dough – this activates the gluten in the flour
Place the kneaded dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes. This process is called proving.
While you wait, grease a flat baking tray
Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten slightly so that you can cut it into 6
Take each cut piece and roll – to roll it properly, place your palm lightly over the dough piece (like a claw) and roll in a circular motion with your palm, using your thumb to shape the dough into a ball.
Once you’ve rolled all the pieces, place the balls on the tray and leave them to rest for another 15 – 20 minutes, this is the second proving.
Sprinkle some flour on the rolls and bake for 20 minutes.
Rolls should be a gorgeous golden colour before removing from the oven.
Jan, who is part of the Fire Island team, turned lockdown boredom into a fun baking session with the kids. Connecting with Helio in Mozambique over Skype, they baked this delicious Portuguese roll recipe together – with awesome results.