Italian Bread

Submitted by Aroostook

"No fat and sooo tasty!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 21

ingredients

• 3 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 -8 cups unbleached flour

directions

1. Dissolve the sugar in the water, then sprinkle in the yeast, stir an wait 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt and 4 cups of flour and beat for three minutes.
3. Add in 2-3 more cups of flour, stir or knead.
4. Add more flour until you have enough to make a good stiff dough.
5. Knead until smooth and soft.
6. Grease a good sized bowl and turn the bread over in it, lightly greasing all sides.
7. Cover with plastic wrap.
8. Rise until doubled in a warm place.
9. Punch down and divide into three parts.
10. Knead each, return to bowl, cover again and let rise.
11. When doubled, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
12. Knead gently and shape the dough into three oblong shapes.
13. Place on a large, lightly greased baking sheet which has been sprinkled with corn meal Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled.
14. Just before baking, score bread with a sharp knife very lightly down the middle then mist bread with water.
15. Turn the bread and mist every 5 minutes.
16. Bake 20 min or so or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Reviews

[Mizzy]

i picked this recipe because of its simplicity, and it's a winner. the crust is crunchy and the center is soft and chewy, the perfect consistency. plus the instructions could not be easier to follow. thanks for posting!

 

[Shannon13]

Great recipe can be adapted for different purposes. Don't mist bread and you get a thick crunchy crust great for dipping or mist and get a thin crisp crust for sandwiches. I added different amounts of flour each time I made the dough. Now I just go by feel, it's generally 7-9 cups. Thank you so much for posting this!

 

[Laudee]

Barb, this bread is excellent...I got 3 good sized loaves, and one small loaf (for mom)...Nothin' to mixing up and baking...The dough is great to work with...I didn't spritz the loaves, but, they turned out fine anyway! I posted my recipe for you...I'll be making yours from now on, thanks! Laudee

 

[jody notarianni]

this is wonderful, just what i was looking for. so light, such a wonderful texture, not too crunchy or too soft. i did omit spraying the water on them, and i have no regrets, however, when i get a sprayer maybe i'll try it. the amount of flour is accurate i used 8 cups. i have made this 2x, the first time with all purpose flour and it came out very good. the 2nd time i made it i used king arthur bread flour, i was very extrmely pleased with the results. i can't wait to use this dough for my next pizza.

 

[Missy Wombat]

This recipe proved to be very wet and I had to add at least 2 extra cups of flour to get i to an accepable consistency. Otherwise the recipe worked well.