Glenn: Italian bread is simple, but making it is not. A
good recipe is a two-day process. The first day you make
"biga", a firm sponge using just flour, water and yeast.
This sits in the fridge overnight. The next day you mix
some of the biga with more flour, water and yeast to make
the bread. (Leftover biga is frozen for future bread-
making, so succeeding sessions complete in one day.) Note,
no oil or sweeteners are used. The biga seems to supply
the elasticity or chewiness that makes it something like
French bread. It's delicious, but as I say, more work
than you think.
A complete recipe follows, based on "The Il Fornaio Baking
Book" by Franco Galli. Their recipe is a little more
sophisticated, but I like the results I get from this
slightly simplified procedure.
Biga
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups cool water
Mix yeast with warm water and let sit till creamy, about
15 minutes. Measure flour into bowl, add yeast mix and
cool water, mix until thoroughly combined. Cover and let
sit in refrigerator 24 hours to two weeks before using.
Freeze what is not used short-term.
Italian Bread ("Pagnotta")
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
7 cups bread flour
1 tblsp salt
2 3/4 cups cool water
1/4 cup biga
Mix yeast with warm water and let sit till creamy, about
15 minutes. Measure flour into bowl, stir in salt, then
add yeast mix, cool water, and biga. Mix until thoroughly
combined, then knead 15-20 minutes by hand (instead, I use
a bread hook on my KitchenAid for several minutes). Shape
into a ball, place in bowl with covering, and let rise
till doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, fold edges
into the bottom to make a ball again, then let rise again
till doubled (about an hour). Sprinkle cornmeal on a
baking sheet. Divide the dough into two, form each half
into a round or oval, place on baking sheet. After 30
minutes start the oven at 425, with a baking stone inside
if you have one. Let dough rise 45 minutes or so, till the
dough springs back slowly when indented with a finger.
Mist the oven with a spray bottle containing water. Put
the bread tray in and mist again. After 5 minutes mist one
more time, and reduce the oven to 400 degrees. Bake
another 40 minutes or so, till done.
>From: "Glenn" <rockymtn@sprynet.com>
Subject: Italian bread?
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 22:33:46 -0600
I'm looking for a basic Italian bread recipe. Just the
simple stuff the
restaurants bring you when you order. It is similar to
thin French bread
but just a little different.
Thanks,
Glenn.