Italian Bread

"This is an easy-to-make bread that's so yeasty and satisfying!! It uses a minimum of ingredients, and goes well with Italian dishes of all kinds; also makes wonderful croutons!"
 
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Ready In:
3hrs 30mins
Ingredients:
7
Yields:
2 loaves
Serves:
14
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ingredients

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directions

  • Turn on oven light. Close oven door (this warm oven will proof your bread--do NOT turn on the oven!).
  • Dissolve yeast in 1 Cup water. Let stand 5 minutes.
  • Dissolve salt in 2 Cups water.
  • Place 5 Cups flour in large bowl.
  • Add liquids. Mix well.
  • Add enough remaining flour to make a workable dough.
  • Knead on lightly floured board for 10 minutes or till dough is smooth and elastic.
  • Add oil to large, clean bowl.
  • Tip bowl to oil bottom and sides.
  • Place dough in bowl, then flip it, so oiled side is on top.
  • Place bowl in lighted oven.
  • Close door and allow dough to proof till double--about 1 hour.
  • Remove from oven and place on lightly floured bread board.
  • Punch down.
  • Divide into 2 pieces.
  • Roll into 2 oblong loaves.
  • Grease a 10 x 15 (approx. size)cookie pan.
  • Place on greased cookie sheet.
  • Return to lighted oven to rise till double, about 30-45 minutes.
  • Make 1 long slash about 1" deep and almost the entire length of each loaf.
  • Bake at 375 degrees 50-60 minutes, till loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
  • Remove from oven and butter tops generously, using 1 T. butter.
  • Allow to cool on wire rack.
  • These freeze well for up to 2 weeks.

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Reviews

  1. This is an awesome bread recipe and so easy to make! So crusty on the outside and soft inside! I did find I needed to add more flour to get the consistency I wanted. Thanks Wilmom for a great delicious recipe.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm an organic gardener--to say I'm middle-aged would be a stretch--I've been gardening for 52 years, mostly in the midwest. I still can most everything we eat. As my Dad used to say, "she'll can anything that'll hold still long enough"!! Sure saves time when company--or family--drop in. I've been cooking all that time, too. I come from a large farm family (1 brother, 5 sisters) and have 2 sons and 4 daughters; AND 10 grandchildren. Many of our family's memories involve food. All the important events are celebrated with a special menu; but as these things usually go, it's the disasters that make lasting memories! We'll be laughing at those long after the really impressive soirees have been forgotten. The women of our group have adopted a saying that "we don't name a dish till after it's cooked. Whatever it looks like, that's what it is!" Keeps the mood light, and even the novice cooks are more adventuresome, knowing that we don't take disasters seriously. On the other side of the coin: years ago, I had a tea room/restaurant called The Market Fare, that was written up in the book THE BEST COUNTRY CAFES IN TEXAS, a gastronomique guidebook by Texas Geographic. The women of our family can usually find our way around a kitchen!! For each of my children, as they left home, I created a cookbook of their favorite foods--still in use by them these many years later. In nearly every culture, family and food go hand-in-hand in creating those special memories. Man may be the HEAD of the home, but woman is its HEART!!
 
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