I like nothing in this world better than the smell of freshly baked bread. Even better if it is homemade crusty Italian bread! The amazing smell fills the house and makes me happy by bringing all my family members to the kitchen. Sometimes we can’t even wait for dinner, and we eat it right then and there with melted butter or garlic spread.
How To Make Crusty Italian Bread?
We will start by proofing the yeast. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Wait for a few minutes until the mixture becomes foamy. This means the yeast is alive and active.
Add the olive oil, salt, Italian seasoning, and 3 cups of flour to the bowl. Using the dough hook attachment of your stand mixer, mix until a soft dough forms. You may need to add more flour little by little until the dough separates from the sides of the bowl.
Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise in a warm and dry place like the inside of your oven (make sure the oven is turned off) for 30 minutes.
Once it has risen, add a little flour to your counter and place the dough on it. Divide it in half and form each half into a loaf. Place the loaves in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rise, covered with the damp cloth, for another 30 minutes.
When the loaves have risen, brush them with egg wash and bake for 30 minutes or brown. Place the loaves in the middle of the oven and a shallow dish filled with water in the lower rack of the oven.
What Makes The Bread Crusty?
When we place the shallow dish filled with water in the lower rack, as the water evaporates, it will make the loaves develop a crusty outside. If you do not place the dish with water, the loaves will be soft and not crusty.
You don’t have to bake your own bread to enjoy a crusty bite. Savory Party Bread Recipeis an amazing way to use store-bought bread and turn it into something amazing.
It can be stored uncovered for one day, but if you keep it longer than one day, wrap it with foil or place it in a paper bag.
This will keep the bread fresh for a second day. If the bread lasted for more than 3 days, it would be better to freeze it covered in plastic wrap.
When we do wait for dinner, we share it on our “Italian nights” and eat it with a bowl of pasta. Some of our favorite dinners include Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Bake Recipe or a delicious bowl of Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e fa*gioli. The possibilities are endless! Cheesy Taco Pasta, even though isn’t classic Italian pasta, is my kid’s favorite.
There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread!
Ingredients
1 ⅓ cups lukewarm water
2 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 ½ - 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten plus one tablespoon of water to make the egg wash
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the water, sugar, and yeast. Let it stand until it becomes foamy and the yeast is activated
Add the olive oil, salt, Italian seasoning, and 3 cups of flour. Using the hook attachment of your stand mixer, mix until a soft dough is formed. You may need to add more flour, but do it little by little just until the dough forms and separates from the side of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth.
Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes in a warm dry place like your oven (make sure it is turned off). After the dough has risen, take it out of the bowl, divide it in half and form two loaves. Place them in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut a slit all along the length of each loaf and let them rise again for another 30 minutes
Once they have risen, brush the loaves with egg wash and place a roll made with parchment paper between them to prevent them from sticking to each other if they grow to be too close together. Place a shallow dish filled with water in the lower rack of the oven, and bake them at 350 F for 30 minutes or until brown.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 131Total Fat: 1gCarbohydrates: 28.5gProtein: 3.7g
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Perhaps the most well-known and popular Italian bread, ciabatta is a slipper-shaped bread. It has a unique, almost plasticity, texture, which makes it possible to do practically anything with this bread.
The inside is moist, thick, and very absorbent, perfect for soaking up soup, sauces, and oils. Italian bread tends to be an elongated oval shape, not too thin and not too thick. Unlike French bread, which tends to be sweet, Italian bread often has a savory taste that adds to its versatility.
Italian bread often contains a bit of milk or olive oil, and sometimes a bit of sugar. French bread tends to be longer and narrower. Italian bread loaves tend to be shorter and plumper. French bread tends to be hard and crusty on the outside, with a light and soft crumb.
Focaccia. One of the most iconic Italian breads, focaccia is a flatbread that's baked on a flat sheet pan with a rich flavor imparted by large streams of extra virgin olive oil.
Focaccia is ½" to 1" thick with a light crust on the top and bottom. It's often described as "flatbread" or "Italian flat bread," but unlike the flat bread we're used to, it isn't flat at all, but thick and fluffy. The "flat" term in question simply refers to the pan in which it's baked compared to other breads.
Some claim that artisan bread is made with only four ingredients of flour, salt, water, and yeast. One bakery says that the type of flour that is used is what makes a bread artisan verses flour that is used in all other bread.
The main difference between these two loaves of bread comes down to the hydration levels. Ciabatta is baked with a much higher hydration level, making the holes within the dough much bigger than a baguette. Ciabatta is also baked with a much stronger flour, which has a more delicate and sweet taste.
Pizza. Besides pasta, pizza is perhaps the most popular and recognized Italian food. Pizza is considered a national symbol representing Italy to the rest of the world, so much so that UNESCO has acknowledged pizza as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Hailing from Milan, panettone is a sweet, dome-shaped bread loaf studded with raisins and candied citrus peels. Interestingly, the dough takes several days to make: like sourdough, it has to be cured.
According to Guinness World Records, Turkey has the largest per capita consumption of bread in the world as of 2000, with 199.6 kg (440 lb) per person; Turkey is followed in bread consumption by Serbia and Montenegro with 135 kg (297 lb 9.9 oz), and Bulgaria with 133.1 kg (293 lb 6.9 oz).
Then, these are the three types of Italian bread you should taste while there: Pane Cafone (great for bruschetta), Pane Tortano, and Pagnotta all'olio.
focaccia, traditional Italian bread with many variations. A precursor of pizza, focaccia is one of Italy's most ancient breads. It is thought to have originated with the Etruscans. The earliest focaccia were unleavened flatbreads made from flour, water, and salt.
While different types exist in various regions of the country, ciabatta has become almost synonymous with sandwich bread across Italy. The well-seasoned soft bread is also popular for dipping into pasta sauce.
If dining at home, a common Italian breakfast food is a kind of rusk. Like a very very crunchy slice of toast, in texture more similar to a hard cookie, it may be worth searching online for “fette biscottate” as they are a very particular Italian breakfast food.
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