Italian Bread

If you want to try your hand at Italian cuisine and you haven’t baked Italian bread then you are missing out on a lot!

You might think that the Italians are only good at pizzas, pastas and their love for cheese but you would be surprised to know that their love for bread also reflects in their cuisine.

No meal is complete without their focaccia, ciabatta or garlic bread. Every region in Italy has a different variation of bread. They know how to bake and break their bread pretty well.

Complement your lasagnas and pizzas with this classic Italian bread recipe. Have it on the side with every meal or simple spread some cheese, olives or butter on a slice and have it as a snack.

This recipe takes 3 hours to make and makes one loaf.

Health benefits

This is quite a healthy bread if eaten in moderation. You can make it healthier if you substitute the white flour with whole-wheat flour.

Ingredients

lukewarm water: 2 cups

active dry yeast: 1/3 cup

all-purpose flour: 6 cups

sugar (preferably brown): 1 tbsp

salt: 1 tbsp

extra virgin olive oil: 2 tbsp

egg white (beaten lightly): 1

Sesame seeds: 2 tbsp

How To Make Italian Bread

1. Add the yeast and water in an electric mixer’s bowl and leave it be for 5-10 minutes until it has risen and bloomed.
2. Add the flour and sugar to the yeast mixture.
3. Using the dough hook of the electric mixer, start beating the ingredients until a light dough like consistency is formed.
4. Add in the oil and salt and keep beating on slow speed for about 8 minutes.
5. Transfer this dough into a large bowl that is greased with cooking spray or butter. Lightly spray the dough with some cooking spray and set it aside for 12 hours by covering it with a cling film. The dough should double in size after 12 hours.
6. Remove from the plastic cover from bowl, punch and knead the dough and roll it out on a clean and flour dusted surface.
7. Make a long oval shape of the dough that resembles a loaf.
8. Place a parchment paper in a baking tray and put the dough on it.
9. Dust some semolina flour on top of the dough.
10. Brush the dough with sesame seeds and egg evenly.
11. Using a sharp knife, make slanted slashes on top of the dough. They should be about3 inches deep.
12. Spray the dough with some water.
13. Bake the dough in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F for about 3 minutes. Spray some water at 3-minute intervals twice again.
14. Bake for an additional 45 minutes straight. The bread should be able to have a hollow thud sound when whacked on a surface.
15. Let the bread cool off and enjoy.

Trivia

• Bread is one of the most common, inexpensive and popular foods in the world with over 2000 different types eaten every day.
• The ancient Greeks were already making 70 types of bread back in 2500 BC.

There are over 20 types of bread eaten in Italy.