Recapture Coca

Eva, author of Bake-Street , brings us the recipe to make coca de recapte. A coca full of tradition, that although we show it with its classic escalivada filling with sardines, you can adapt it and serve the salty or sweet coca to your liking.

For all those of you who are lovers of pizzas, focaccias and flat breads, we are going to give you joy. We have another fantastic option to prepare at home and that you can enjoy lunch or dinner in no time: cocas. And to be more exact, we will leave you how to make the Coca de Recapte .

The word coca comes from the Dutch word " kok " from the time of the Carolingian Empire and has the same roots as the word Cake or Kuchen , this being "cake".

Its supposed origin says that it arose thanks to the need to take advantage of the remains of bread dough instead of discarding them. The women cooked these flattened remains, sprinkling sugar on top to serve them as a dessert.

The word "coca" covers a wide variety of elaborations. It is used to name flat breads, cakes and/or cakes. They are consumed throughout Catalonia, Aragon, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and Andorra. It is usually consumed on holidays such as the Night of San Juan, Easter and Christmas. Although we should not rule out, under any circumstances, consuming them the rest of the year. They are very good.

Coca saltada is a simple way to present traditional dishes throughout the Mediterranean. In addition, it is considered the mother of focaccia and Italian pizzas .

You can prepare an infinite number of elaborations, both sweet and salty. On this occasion we will prepare a coca de recapte, which means "provision" that is taken to the field for a snack. A crunchy dough on the outside and spongy on the inside , covered with escalivada and sardines marinated in oil and rosemary .

Few things so simple and rich will make us enjoy so much.

Non-drip glass oiler and Opinel bread knife .

Ingredients

For the mass:

• 250g of great strength flour W=340
• 0.6g of baker's dry yeast or 1.8g of fresh yeast
• 2g of sugar
• 8g of salt
• 175g of lukewarm water

For the filling:

• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 large eggplant
• 2 fresh sardines
• Salt
• Olive oil
• fresh rosemary
• Fresh parsley

Elaboration

First day

We roast the vegetables:

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC with air.
2. Wash and dry the red peppers and the aubergine.
3. On a baking tray , lined with aluminum foil, place the red peppers and the aubergine and place in the oven.
4. We leave it for around 50-60 minutes , they should take on a light toasted color on the outside, the meat should be tender and we can remove the skin without problems.
5. Halfway through cooking, we open the oven, move away from the door because a lot of steam will be released, and carefully, using tongs , turn the peppers over to finish cooking.
6. Remove, place in a glass bowl , cover with film and let cool completely overnight. In this way it will be much easier to peel the peppers.

Clean and marinate the sardines:

1. Eviscerate, remove the guts, and head of the sardines.
2. We scaled the sardines. If we don't have a scaler for it, nothing happens. We place a large colander in the kitchen sink, where all the scales will fall, and we clean the sardines under cold water with the help of our hands. We will scrape against the sense of the scales.
3. We wash very well under cold water and dry with kitchen paper.
4. We open the sardine , remove the central spine and cut in half lengthwise. Cut the beards with the help of a sharp knife or scissors .
5. Place the sardine fillets in an airtight glass container with the skin facing down. We salt, we have some fresh rosemary leaves and we cover with oil .
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Prepare the coca dough:

1. In a medium bowl add the dry ingredients and mix .
2. Add the water and mix until a homogeneous mixture is obtained, that is, until there are no traces of dry flour on the surface ( see photo below ).
3. Cover with film and let rise for 18-24 hours at room temperature .

Second day

1. Our dough will be bubbly, it will have increased in size and it will have settled, that is, we will see that it will have a slightly deflated appearance.
2. Dust the work surface with flour, turn the dough over it and proceed to preform it.
3. We will fold each of the four ends towards the center, turn the dough over and round it trying to exert tension.
4. Sprinkle with flour and let rest for 25 minutes .
5. We preheat the oven 30 minutes before introducing the coke, we will do it at 270ºC with heat above and below . If your oven does not reach that temperature, nothing happens, set the maximum temperature with which it allows you to work.

Preforming and resting the dough

We form the coke:

1. We proceed to stretch the dough on a floured surface, trying not to manipulate it or flatten it excessively. We must shape and stretch it with care and care.
2. We will form a rectangle of approximately 35 x 17 cm .
3. If the mass opposes some resistance and shrinks, it is because it has tension. We will let it relax for around 5-10 minutes, always covered to prevent it from drying out, and we will continue forming it.
4. Transfer the coca dough to a board or tray lined with baking paper and lightly dusted with flour.
5. We have strips of peppers and aubergine alternating them.
6. Place the sardines, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt flakes and fresh rosemary.
7. Before putting the coca in the oven, we turn on the grill at maximum power. Depending on our oven you will have several options in terms of heat power. In my case I put it to the maximum.
8. Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until the cake is a nice golden color.
9. Remove, sprinkle some chopped parsley and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before eating.

Stretched the dough

GRADES

• Is it essential to use high strength flour for this recipe? Yes. We must work with a very strong flour that allows us to add high hydration and obtain the results that we show you. Like this variety of flour, it will be able to tolerate long and prolonged fermentation times.
• This dough does not need to be kneaded to develop the gluten , it will be enough to integrate the ingredients well (until there are no traces of dry flour) and let it rise calmly .
• We must observe the dough after 16-18 hours , especially if it is a hot time of the year because it will rise faster. If this is the case, once this point is reached, you should store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• If we want to prepare the dough days in advance or if we make more for later days, after 18-24 hours, we put the dough in the refrigerator and let it rest for a maximum of four days . It is not worth freezing the dough due to the short time it takes to make it.
• Whenever you refrigerate the dough , you should temper it for about 2 hours before preparing to preform it.
• To bake it you can use both a steel plate and a baking stone , place it in the central part of the oven and remember that we must preheat with it inside. If you do not have either of these two elements, bake on a preheated baking tray.
• Important note regarding how to bake with the grill . You have to respect a distance between baking the coca (especially if it has paper on the base) and the grill. The distance should not be less than 20 cm because there is a risk that the paper will catch fire . If your oven does not respect this distance , it will be better to proceed with baking without the grill . To obtain a toasted edge, all you have to do is extend the final baking time and the result will still be very good.
• Remember that each oven is different, yours may need more or less cooking time. Watch it the first time you do it to work with the exact time. It can be around 7-12 minutes total.
• I have used fresh sardines because I consider that the end result is considerably better. In case of using this type of sardine, freeze them beforehand to prevent the possible presence of anisakis.
• If you macerate the sardines you will be able to enhance the flavors a lot. In my case I have opted for fresh rosemary, but you can do it with the aromatics you prefer.
• Can I use canned sardines instead of fresh? Yes, you can, but the result will not be the same. Not similar.
• Don't let the bad reputation of the smell of sardines when cooking them throw you back. By preparing them this way, there will be hardly any odor from the oven.
• Can I use another type of canned food instead of sardines? Yes, it is also common to present it with anchovies . If you choose this ingredient, do not add it before baking the coca . The reason is that the salty point is greatly enhanced and they can become uncomfortable when tasting it. Arrange them on the coca once we have removed it from the oven and while it is tempering on a wire rack.

Bérard flour spoon , Seigaiha Tokyo Studio porcelain bowl , Mediterránea crystal tumbler , Mediterránea crystal bowl and non-drip crystal oil can .

This coca de recapte can solve many dinners or unforeseen events, having the dough ready (which we can prepare in advance "just in case") in just over 15 minutes we will be enjoying a wonderful dish.

We are looking forward to seeing yours!