Rustic
Italian Bread Recipe
[Any combination of flours can be used]
¼ teaspoon yeast
2 cups flour
1 cup water
Mix ¼ teaspoon of yeast into to 2 cups of all purpose flour,
add 1 cup and maybe a little more of water, stir with a spoon until ingredients are thoroughly incorporated,
cover and let stand for 12 to 24 hrs.
[for the sourdough version: dissolve sourdough starter in one cup of water, add 2 cups of all purpose flour, mix, cover and stand. My sourdough starter is coarse rye flour. I usually add ¼ cup additional rye, ½ whole wheat and 1 ¼ all purpose]
[for the sourdough version: dissolve sourdough starter in one cup of water, add 2 cups of all purpose flour, mix, cover and stand. My sourdough starter is coarse rye flour. I usually add ¼ cup additional rye, ½ whole wheat and 1 ¼ all purpose]
. . .
. . .
. . .
.
1 teaspoon yeast [1/8th
to ¼ teaspoon
for the sourdough version]
3 cups flour
1 ½ cup water
The next day, mix 1 teaspoon of yeast and 2 teaspoons of
fine salt into 3 cups of whole wheat flour [or any other combination of flours. For a traditional Italian loaf use 3
cups of all purpose flour.] Add 1 ½ cups
water. Mix with a dough hook for about 4 minutes. Let stand for ½ to 1 hour.
Final Mix
Combine the two doughs kneading thoroughly either by hand (10-15 minutes) or using a mixer with a dough hook for 8 minutes until smooth. In the mixer the dough should not stick to the bowl except on the bottom. It’s a fairly wet dough. You might want lightly dust your hands with flour, moisten your hands with a bit of oil or water to handle dough. Remove from the bowl, fold several times, form into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl, cover, and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
[ 76 degrees F. is a good setting if you have a bread proofer. You can use an oven by firing it up for just a minute, then turning on the light inside. Warm works quicker, cool works slower but develops a better flavor, so proofing time varies. The dough will flatten out in the bowl and then start to rise, it doesn’t need to double before the next step but should clearly be ‘on the move’.]
Combine the two doughs kneading thoroughly either by hand (10-15 minutes) or using a mixer with a dough hook for 8 minutes until smooth. In the mixer the dough should not stick to the bowl except on the bottom. It’s a fairly wet dough. You might want lightly dust your hands with flour, moisten your hands with a bit of oil or water to handle dough. Remove from the bowl, fold several times, form into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl, cover, and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
[ 76 degrees F. is a good setting if you have a bread proofer. You can use an oven by firing it up for just a minute, then turning on the light inside. Warm works quicker, cool works slower but develops a better flavor, so proofing time varies. The dough will flatten out in the bowl and then start to rise, it doesn’t need to double before the next step but should clearly be ‘on the move’.]
Folding
Remove from the bowl, fold several times, form into a ball, put back into the bowl, cover, let stand 30 minutes
Repeat fold, let stand another 30 minutes.
Remove from the bowl, fold several times, form into a ball, put back into the bowl, cover, let stand 30 minutes
Repeat fold, let stand another 30 minutes.
SHAPE INTO
LOAVES
[ see YouTube for shaping techniques e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGb-hwg2OaU
[ see YouTube for shaping techniques e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGb-hwg2OaU
This recipe will make two traditional Italian loaves, two small
or one long pan loaf. For the traditional Italian loaves you should use a couche, see YouTube e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAwSV1VakA
Cover the the loaves with oiled plastic and let rise for 1 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Put a pan in the bottom oven.
Score top of loaf, place in oven, pour a full cup of water into the pan for steam. Close the oven, wait 1 minute, set oven temperature to 425 F. Bake 20 minutes, rotate the pan, reduce temperature to 375 F, bake 15 minutes more. Check internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer, 200 degrees F is done. Let cool before slicing. Traditional Italian loaves can be warmed in the oven before serving in just a few minutes at 350 F.
Cover the the loaves with oiled plastic and let rise for 1 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Put a pan in the bottom oven.
Score top of loaf, place in oven, pour a full cup of water into the pan for steam. Close the oven, wait 1 minute, set oven temperature to 425 F. Bake 20 minutes, rotate the pan, reduce temperature to 375 F, bake 15 minutes more. Check internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer, 200 degrees F is done. Let cool before slicing. Traditional Italian loaves can be warmed in the oven before serving in just a few minutes at 350 F.
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