Crusty Italian Bread

By tulawdog

Ingredients

• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 1/4 tspns instant dry yeast
• 5 – 5 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tblspn light brown sugar
• 2 tblspns olive oil
• 2 1/2 tspns salt

Preparation

Step 1

Put 5 cups of the flour in a large bowl and mix with the yeast, sugar and salt. Now pour in the warm water and the olive oil and give it a good mix until the dough comes together. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 7 minutes, adding a little more flour if the dough is too sticky. When it’s nicely kneaded and smooth, place it in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film that has also been sprayed with some cooking oil. Leave the bowl in a warm place for the dough to double in size, about 60-90 minutes.

Remove the cling film and punch the dough down. Turn it out onto a floured surface and flatten the dough with the heel of your hand into an oval kind of shape. Roll it up tightly, sealing the seam well. Repeat this process a few times. The dough should finish up an elongated, oval shape with tapered ends. Place the dough onto a floured board, loosely cover with a floured cloth and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, heat the oven and your oven tray to 220c. When the dough is ready, remove the tray from the oven and sprinkle over some semolina flour (this gives a nice crunchy base) and place the dough on top. Now using a serrated knife, slash the dough lengthwise about 1-2cm deep. Spray the loaf generously with water and place it in the oven for 3 minutes. Open the oven and spray the loaf again with water, close the door and cook for a further 3 minutes. Now spray the loaf for a third time, close the door and leave the loaf to bake for 40 minutes more. If it starts to brown too much on top, just place a piece of aluminium foil loosely on top. When ready, remove from the oven, turn the loaf over and give the base a tap, if it sounds hollow, it’s ready. Leave to cool on a rack before slicing and devouring. Makes one large loaf.