Italian Bread

I've always been a sucker for carbs. Rice, potatoes, pasta, bread. You name it, I love it. I made dinner for my family, and decided to make some bread to go with it. Zach is a sucker for  nice crusty breads with light airy insides, and this recipe fit the bill. With five people, it was gone in minutes so that should tell you something.

I did make a change to the original recipe to use what I had on hand. I did not have semolina flour at the time so I substituted it with A.P. flour. It turned out perfectly!

Italian Bread from Stephanie Gallagher

•1 cup warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
•1/2 cup warm skim milk (between 105 and 115 degrees F)
•2 Tbsp. honey
•2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
•3 cups bread flour
•1 cup semolina flour
•1 tsp. sea salt (such as Maldon sea salt)
•2 Tbsp. olive oil
•coarse cornmeal
•olive oil-flavored nonstick cooking spray

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer or a large mixing bowl, combine water, milk, and honey. Sprinkle yeast over top. Allow to stand 10-15 minutes until foamy. Add 2 cups of bread flour. Using electric stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat on low for 4 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel. Place in an unheated oven and allow to stand 1-2 hours.

Remove bowl from oven and add remaining cup of bread flour, semolina flour, salt and olive oil. Using your electric mixer with a dough hook, beat for 5 minutes. Spray another large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Pour dough into that bowl. Turn over until dough is covered with oil. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a cookie sheet with several teaspoons of cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an oval mound. Flatten slightly until each half is about 6 inches across. Spray tops of dough loaves with nonstick spray. Put cookie sheet into unheated oven to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled. Remove dough from oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 slits across top of bread about 1/4 inch deep. Fill a small round cake pan with 1/2 inch of water. Place on cake pan on bottom rack in oven. Place cookie sheet with bread dough on it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If bread browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.