Homemade Italian Bread

If you were to ask, what type of cook I am, I would say I am a baker, more than a cook. I love baking bread. It is probably the most satisfying food for me to make. I used to make it by hand, which in itself was a work out but now that I have a stand mixer, I have been able to make a variety of breads easily. Today, I am sharing with you a recipe for Italian Bread. Before I left for Florida, I was preparing a number of dishes, for my house/cat sitter. I made a large tray of lasagna and what better to serve with a pasta dish, than Italian bread. So, armed with my stand mixer, I made a beautiful loaf of Italian bread. This one was probably the largest I have made so far. I usually half many of my recipes because I am only cooking for two. I was very satisfied with this recipe and I wish I would have been able to have more than one slice. Oh well, it just means I have another opportunity to make this again!

Ingredients:

1 cup of warm water

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of sugar

3/4 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

1 egg white, slightly beaten with a bit of water (for brushing)

Directions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients and olive oil.
2. Add enough water until a ball of dough is formed (should be about 1 cup of water)
3. Knead until dough is soft and elastic
4. Place dough in a greased bowl and cover. Allow dough to rest for 1 hour
5. Punch dough down and roll it out into a rectangle.
6. Form a roll (using the long sides of the rectangle) and then tuck ends at the seam
7. Place loaf on a parchment paper, seam side down and let dough rest for 1 hour
8. Place two racks in oven, one in the center of the oven and the second underneath the first
9. Place a pan on the lower rack.
10. Set a pot of water to boil
11. Preheat oven to 375 F
12. Brush loaf with egg white and cut decorative slashes on the top of the loaf
13. When water is boiling, pour into pan on lower rack and place loaf of bread on the first rack
14. Keep oven closed and bake for 25 minutes

Serve when loaf has cooled.

(It is always easier to cut bread after it has cooled down)