Italian Yeast Peasant Bread Recipe 455 Food

ITALIAN PEASANT BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Blend in rest of ingredients except butter.
• Shape into one large round loaf. Place on a greased cooking sheet and let rise until doubled. Brush with melted butter.
• Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 25 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

PEASANT BREAD

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/4 cup water and yeast. Let stand until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup more water and sponge; mix on low speed using paddle, about 2 minutes. Add flours, salt, and remaining water; mix 1 minute more. Using dough hook, mix on medium-low speed, pulling dough from hook 2 or 3 times, until dough is soft and sticks to fingers when squeezed, about 8 minutes. Or knead by hand, 15 to 20 minutes.
• On a floured surface, knead dough into a ball by hand, 4 or 5 turns. Place smooth side up in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in a warm place until tripled in bulk, about 3 hours.
• Turn dough onto floured surface. Flour top, and cut in half. Roll up one piece of dough lengthwise, flatten slightly, and roll lengthwise again. On an unfloured surface, cup your hands around the sides of the dough and move it in small, circular motions, until top of dough is rounded and bottom is smooth. Flour a piece of parchment, and place dough on it; cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Repeat process with second piece of dough. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes. 30 minutes before this final rise is completed, place a baking stone or baking sheet in the oven and an empty baking pan on the lowest shelf; heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Sprinkle dough with flour, and dimple the surface with your fingertips; let rise 10 minutes more. Using a baker's peel or baking sheet, slide loaves and parchment onto the baking stone or baking sheet. Pour 2 cups very hot water into the heated baking pan to create steam. Bake until dark golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

ITALIAN PEASANT BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Ingredients 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 2 cups water (lukewarm, 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit) 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2. Directions 1. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Blend in rest of ingredients except butter. 2. Shape into one large round loaf. Place on a greased cooking sheet and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Brush with melted butter. 3. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 25 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

ITALIAN PEASANT BREAD FOR BREAD MACHINE

Steps:

• Place ingredients, according to manufacturer's directions into your bread machine.
• (some call for all liquids, or all dry ingredients first, so know your machine) Set machine to "dough cycle" and wait. (This takes most machines about an hour and a half for a full cycle).
• Remove from machine when cycle is complete and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Shape dough by hand, into a rectangular mound, spreading kind of thin, maybe an inch or two of thickness.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. (This is a good time to go ahead and turn the oven on to preheat and help warm the kitchen).
• Brush with a little olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary and salt if desired. (This is the way its done at Macaroni Grill).
• Bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and crispy. Bread is meant to be a flatter shape and not a high rising bread.
• Have everyone tear their pieces of bread with their hands,and serve with olive oil flavored with fresh ground pepper.

ITALIAN YEAST PEASANT BREAD RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Put the 2 packages of yeast in a room temperature large mixing bowl. Add ½ cup of the warm water (about 110-120 degrees) and whisk dissolving the yeast. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining water to the yeast and gently whisk together. Sift 4 cups of sifted flour and salt into a second mixing bowl. Pour half of the flour into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the remaining flour and blend well. Put the remaining flour on a clean surface. Dump out the dough and knead for about 5 minutes. (Note: leave the flour on this surface because you will knead a second time) Coat a clean large bowl with cooking spray. Form the dough into a large ball, put in the bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and place in a draft free area and let the dough rise until about double in size (an hour or more). (Note: I put mine in a cold oven. Turn on the light and let it rise. ) After the dough has raised, dump onto the flour surface and knead another 5-7 minutes. Shape into desired bread loaves, make slits (about ½" deep) on top with a sharp knife, cover and let it raise again for about 30 minutes. Brush the tops/sides of the bread with an egg white (optional) for a shiny finish. Bake in a pre-heated 400 oven about 45-55minutes. (Note: Cover the top with foil if it's getting too brown.)

ITALIAN BREAD

Steps:

• In large bowl thoroughly mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast.
• Add butter.
• Gradually add warm water to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes with mixer at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Add 3/4 cup flour.
• Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
• Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes).
• Cover dough with plastic wrap and then a towel and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• To make loaves: Divide dough in half.
• Roll each half into a 15x10 inch rectangle.
• Starting at wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
• Taper ends by rolling gently back and forth.
• To make rolls: Divide dough into 6 equal pieces.
• Roll each piece into a rectangle 8x5 inches.
• Starting with wide side, roll up tightly; pinch seam to seal.
• Taper ends.
• Place the shaped dough seam side down on greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.
• Brush dough with oil.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-24 hours.
• When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and uncover carefully.
• Let dough stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
• Make 3 or 4 diagonal slits in dough with a sharp knife or razor blade.
• Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes for rolls, 20 minutes for loaves.
• Remove from oven and brush with egg white beaten with cold water.
• Return to oven; bake 5-10 minutes longer, or until golden.
• **Note: I sometimes add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (adjust amounts to your preferences) of dried oregano OR basil OR rosemary to the dry ingredients.
• Sometimes I also add 1 bulb (head) of roasted garlic cloves to the dry ingredients.
• To roast garlic: Peel as much of the outer skin away as possible, leaving the cloves unpeeled and the head intact (optional: trim the tips of the cloves off to expose the"meat" to the oil).
• Place head (s) in covered casserole or on a piece of heavy aluminum foil.
• Drizzle with olive oil, and bake covered at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes (mine takes over an hour in a terra-cotta garlic baker), or until cloves are soft and can be squeezed easily out of their skins.
• Let roasted garlic cool before adding to the flour for the bread.

PEASANT BREAD

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl whisk the flours and the salt. Set aside.
• Grease a separate large bowl with butter or olive oil and set this aside. (This bowl will be used for the dough's initial rise).
• In a standing-mixer's bowl, dissolve the sugar into the water. Sprinkle the yeast over the top. (If you'd like . at this point . to ensure the yeast is active . you could let the mix stand for 10-15 minutes . or until it's foamy and/or bubbling just a bit. I typically don't).
• Add the flours and salt.
• Mix (**Note: The original recipe outlines stirring with a wooden spoon, which works . but I like to use my mixer with the dough hook and let it go for 4 or 5 minutes on medium speed) Note: the dough will be on the wet side. Transfer the dough to the greased bowl from the preparation step.
• Cover bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for at least an hour . or until it's about doubled in size.
• ** Typically, dough at our house takes 3 or 4 hours to double . point being . don't sweat the exact time.
• Grease 2 oven-safe bowls with about a Tbsp of butter each.
• Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
• Punch down your dough . and divide it into 2 equal parts. One by one . place each half on a floured counter-top. Quickly form a ball with each part & transfer them to your prepared bowls.
• At this point . the original recipe calls for letting the dough rise until it's doubled again in size . and this certainly works. I've taken to putting the dough into the fridge overnight for its second rise. There's something that happens to dough when it ferments for a long period of time in a cool environment.
• Pre-heat oven to 425.
• Bake for 10 minutes at 425. Reduce the heat to 375º and bake for 18-19 minutes longer. Remove from the oven . letting the loaves sit for 5-10 minutes before turning them over onto cooling racks.
• If the bowls have been greased well . the loaves should easily fall out out onto the cooling racks.
• You'll have to gauge it based on taste . I cook the loaves on the lower end of the time the original calls for because we like them pale & soft. If that's not for you . they can always be placed back into the oven (outside their bowls) and baked for about 5 minutes longer.
• Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.