I decided to make a white cake this morning, until I saw this recipe for crusty Italian bread in my files. Didn’t need no stinkin’ cake anyway, This bread is very easy to make and doesn’t use any special flour (like bread flour.) If you have yeast in your cupboard (and who doesn’t) and about two hours (15 min hands on) you should be ready to go!

Crusty Italian Bread

INGREDIENTS
• 314 g (1⅓ cups) warm water
• 7 g (2¼ tsp) yeast
• 16 g (1 Tbl) brown sugar
• 12 g (2 tsp) salt
• 21 g (1½ tsp) olive oil
• 500 g (4 c) AP flour
• 1 egg for wash

METHOD

1. Combine warm water, yeast, and brown sugar in a stand mixer bowl, stir and let stand ~8-10 minutes until it begins activate
2. Add olive oil and salt, mix well.
3. Gradually add the flour until the sides and bottom of the bowl come clean.
4. Knead using the dough hook to knead for 8 minutes.
5. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled, ~30 minutes. (I use a proofing oven that was warmed to temperature, then turned off.)
6. Punch it down, form into an oval and shape it into a loaf. Tuck ends under.
7. Cover the loaf with a damp cloth and let it rise (in the still warm oven) until doubled. ~20 min. Over-proofing will cause the loaves to flatten.
8. Preheat oven to 375ᵒF degrees.
9. Brush top of loaf with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon water)
10. Score with a single, quick, long cut down the center.
11. Pour 1 cup of hot water in a shallow pan on the rack underneath the bread in the oven.
12. Bake for 25-30 minutes (internal temp reaches 190ᵒF) or until the loaf turn golden brown and produces a hollow sound when tapped.
13. Remove from the pan and cool on racks.