Basic Italian Bread

italianbread

This is my method of making good, crusty Italian bread. Once you know how, you can do lots of things with this dough. I start with a biga or starter the day before, and leave it sit in the fridge overnight, and complete the bread the next day.

I don’t knead my bread as much as the traditional recipes call for, but I get great results. Even if you’ve never made bread before, you’ll find this recipe easy.

Baking Tip: You could also use a baguette pan to make long thin loaves, or spread your dough across a well-oiled cookie sheet to make focaccia.

Rosemary Bread: Add 4 Tbs. finely chopped rosemary to the flour. Brush the loaves with water and sprinkle with coarse sea salt just prior to baking.

Olive Bread: Add 12 oz. flavorful pitted olives, coarsely chopped to the flour mixture.

Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

Basic Italian Bread

Basic Italian Bread

Yield: 2 Loaves
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 3 hours

My basic Italian bread recipe.

Ingredients

Biga:

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
  • 1 Cup Lukewarm water
  • 2 Cups Unbleached, All-purpose Flour

Bread:

  • 2 Cups Warm Water (about 90 degrees F.)
  • 1 Pkg. Active Dry Yeast
  • 5-6 Cups All-purpose, Unbleached Flour
  • 2 Teaspoons Salt

Instructions

  1. For the Biga: Mix the yeast and water together, and then slowly start adding the flour, mixing well.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for up to 6 hours and refrigerate overnight.
  3. The Next Day: Place the water in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast overtop and mix well and let sit 10 minutes until bubbly.
  4. Add the biga, flour, and salt and stir with a wooden spoon (or mix with your hands) until everything is mixed.
  5. The dough will be fairly wet and sticky at this point.
  6. Cover and let stand in a warm spot for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled in volume.
  7. Punch down the dough, folding it over on itself two or three times, cover and let rise once more until doubled, about 1 hour.( If you choose, you could refrigerate your dough at this time and leave it overnight to prepare the next day.)
  8. Turn out your dough onto a floured baking sheet, and without overworking it too much shape into one large or two smaller round or oval shaped loaves, using as much extra flour as needed to keep it from sticking.
  9. Slash across the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife or razor just prior to baking.
  10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and place a casserole dish with boiling water on the lower oven rack.
  11. Bake your bread 30 minutes, turn the baking sheet around, and reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 30-45 minutes.
  12. At this point your bread should be golden brown and should sound hollow when you tap the bottom.
  13. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature and serve.

Did you make this recipe?

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8 Comments

  1. Great bread! Made this to go with borscht and so we had a multicultural meal. My son said on his second bite, “Mom this is really good bread!” We all enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

  2. This bread was so easy and delicious. My whole family loved it. The biga really gave the bread a nice tang. This was much tastier than the Italian bread from our local supermarket, which typically is dry and tasteless. I will make this often, and I may try incorporating some different types of flours into the recipe. Thank you.

  3. Made this twice now! Got excellent results each time.  I’ve made bread before but this recipe is so easy.  Product is delicious, especially for bread lovers like us! Thank you for this one.

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