Crusty Italian Bread
"A delicious and crusty bread that has the added convenience of using the dough cycle of a bread machine. Can easily be made by hand- you just need to let the dough rise until doubled before punching it down and proceeding to the shaping and baking stage. Very easy and has that wonderful crust that you usually only find in bakeries!"
photo by brokenburner
- Ready In:
- 3hrs 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 7
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 2 2⁄3 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 (1/4 ounce) package fast rising yeast
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1⁄4 cup water
directions
- Put hot water, salt and sugar into bottom of bread machine pan. Sprinkle flour on top of water. Make a well in the flour and fill with the yeast. Start dough cycle on machine.
- When dough cycle is complete, turn dough out onto a floured surface and kneed lightly. Shape into a round loaf and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or very lightly greased. (Do not use a dark non-stick pan- it will cause the bread to become too dark on the bottom).
- Mix together the cornstarch and water and brush onto the top of the bread. Using a shrap knife or razor slash an "X " onto the top of the loaf. You can sprinkle the top with sesame seeds if you like.
- On the LOWEST rack of the oven place an oven safe baking dish (such as a 9x13" pan) and fill 2/3 full with very hot water. Place baking sheet with bread on the MIDDLE rack. Turn the oven on to 400'. The bread will rise as the oven heats. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
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Reviews
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This isn't a review, rather a comment. One person used Splenda for the sugar. Yeast needs sugar to feed upon in order to rise. When I use my KitchenAid to make bread, I add the flower a little at a time to see how goes in. Once the dough is no longer pooled at the bottom, and the sides of the bowl are clean, then the dough should be ready. I do think I am going to try this recipe though.<br/><br/>Cheers -
I have to admit that I was pretty sure this would not turn out---the recipe seemed to easy...I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out great! I think I will add a bit more salt next time and hope I dont mess it up. My husband is Italian and misses crusty italian bread. Now I can make it for him at home...This is a keeper---very easy! -
I didn't use a bread machine, since, much to my dismay, I don't have one! I put together the dough using my KitchenAid stand mixer. I used one cup of flour, 1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour, and 1/3 cup oat bran, and also used Splenda in place of the sugar. I let the yeast, sugar and salt sit in the water (warm, not hot) for a few minutes before I mixed in the flours. I found that I had to add some water because the dough was crumbling and not holding together well at all. I let it rise in a warm oven for about three hours, and it never did quite double in size, but I shaped and slashed it anyway... I don't know why, but one quarter of the loaf kind of exploded while it was baking, so I didn't end up with a nice round loaf... which is annoying if you want to cut even slices. This is definitely a CRUSTY bread -- in fact, it might even be TOO crusty. I don't think I had it in the oven too long -- it didn't burn at all -- but it was so crusty that you need a really strong jaw to chew it. The taste was good, it was just really hard to eat!! Thanks for posting.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I come from a large Greek family and I learned how to cook at a very young age. I was always inspired watching my dad work his magic with garlic, lemon and olive oil and sitting at my papou's (grandpa) feet watching him make amazing soups. Today I take all those memories and recreate the dishes I grew up eating. It's funny that when you are a child you don't want to eat the dinner that mom and dad made and only want chicken nuggets- but once you are an adult you yearn for all those foods that you were gently force fed! I still try to get it just right and I think my dad would be proud with the legacy he left me!
