Rustic Italian Bread Recipe

How to make it

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• Sift flour into a large bowl.
• Mix in salt by hand.
• Move the ingredients to the sides of the bowl, creating a large well in the middle.
• Pour the yeast into the well.
• Pour 1 cup of lukewarm water over the yeast.
• Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp of flour over top.
• Wait 10 minutes for bubbles to appear in the yeast.
• When bubbles have appeared you can start to mix the ingredients (hands work best, but you can use a mixer) to form the dough. Gradually incorporate the flour that is on the sides of the bowl. If it's too runny or sticky just add a bit more flour at the end.
• At this "pre-kneading" stage you should have a round firm ball of dough. If it's too sticky add a little more flour.
• To knead, remove the bread from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.
• Knead it by pushing your palms into and then turning it one quarter. Keep kneading and doing quarter turns for about 5-10 minutes until the bread is supple and non-sticky.
• Place the bread in a lightly floured bowl and cover with a damp cloth.
• Let it rise for about 1 hour until double in size.
• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Re-sprinkle counter top with flour.
• Prepare a baking pan by lightly oiling and sprinkling the bottom with cornmeal.
• Place dough on floured surface.
• Punch it down once and re-shape it into a loaf.
• Put the loaf in the baking pan.
• Cover with dish towel and let rise for about 1 hour until double in size.
• Coat the top with the beaten egg.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• *Focaccia Bread Recipe:
• Follow the recipe above but add 1 cup of mashed potatoes when you are mixing the flour and yeast mixture.
• Right before baking coat top with olive oil and sprinkle with course salt.
• Bake at 400°F until it is lightly browned.
• *Ciabatta Bread Recipe:
• Follow basic Italian bread recipe above.
• Add 4 Tbsp olive oil when mixing the flour with the yeast mixture. Form a loaf that is about 1 inch high.
• Before baking, sprinkle flour on the top of the loaf.
• Bake at 425°F until browned (about 30 minutes).
• *Olive Bread Recipe:
• Follow any of the three bread recipes above .Add 1/2 cup olives at the end of mixing stage.
• Follow baking instructions as indicated in each recipe.
• *You can use sun-dried tomatoes and shredded parmesan cheese.to create delicious bread. Just add during the mixing stage.