April 12, 2009 - 6:20pm
Looking for a good Italian Bread Recipe
A Happy Easter evening to everyone!
I'm looking for a god Italian Bread Recipe that I can make without a Bread Machine. I've recently been making rolls and wheat bread and things, but my husband recently asked me to branch out to Italian and I'm not sure what to try. Ideally this bread would be for sandwiches, but even just a good "eating with butter" loaf would be fun to try as well.
I'm not super-experienced, but with a good recipe I tend to do ok. Can anyone help me out?
Thanks!
Leigh
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hi there's one on this site that looks good, ive been meanining to try it myself. you can find it on favourites list on your left.
Get a copy of Carol Field's Classic book- Italian Baking. She has a range of Italian breads that are wonderful. As a bonus, she gives directions for making them by Processor, Stand mixer, or Hand.
Jim
Sorry- I typed too quickly!
The correct title of the book is The Italian Baker by Carol Field ( Harper & Row 1985)
comes from Eric on this site - he helped me to perfect this bread and I still say "thanks Eric" as I put it together!
see http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/8437/pr039s-italian-biga
I make it every week for my niece and her family so I've altered it a bit to their liking. I use water instead of milk and generally around 7+ ounces of it.
David Snyder makes this bread with a sourdough starter which is also great - search this site and you'll find his recipe.
It's so fun to bake successfully - you'll love this one.
Judy
I have been in search of a good Italian bread recipe for about a year. Most of the recipes look about the same. I have tried several and tweaked some of them with no luck. Even though some of them look very nice, I think they taste like prison bread. How does this bread compare with what I might find at an Italian bakery? They look good in the picture. I would hate to get stuck with two more loaves of prison bread. Of course I could halve the recipe.
Paul
Paul,
It's hard to comment on how this recipe compares to an Italian bakery since some I've come across in bakeries are just a variation on Wonder bread!
The differences as I see it are in the shade of the crust - these are richer and browner - you can control the color with oven temp and time - and the color of the crumb. Unbleached flour will not produce a white, white crumb.
We just returned from Italy and had some amazing and not so amazing bread. The amazing bread had well developed flavor, open crumb and thick crusty, crusts.
This recipe has well developed flavor, open crumb and thick crusty, crusts but tastes very different. Believe me, prison bread it's not. (Although I can't speak fom experience.)
The outcome will depend on the type of flour you use. I use honey instead of sugar and like the effect it has on the crust.
Everyone who has tasted this bread raves about it. It's rather easy to put together and there's plenty of help here to guide you along. I hope you give it a try...and let us know how it went for you.
Judy
Thanks for the reply Judy.
I have never been to Italy, but I do love the Italian bread we can find in the Milwaukee area. It is nothing like Wonder bread. (I wonder why it won't even grow mold.) My preference is for a more even crumb, but that is just what I am accustomed to. The bakery breads have a wonderful flavor and a nice crust. Even the ones we get at some of the supermarkets are surprisingly good.
Quite honestly, for $2-3 per loaf, I don't know why I try. It must be to justify the mixer I bought for no apparent reason. I don't make bread as often as many of the people on this website because I am trying to have a life. It seems to take up an entire day when I bake bread. This weekend is out, but I think this may be my next try. I will have to get some diastatic malt. Maybe it is the missing link.
Paul
I just tried the Italian bread recipe in "Secrets of a Jewish Baker" by George Greenstein last weekend. It came out great -- excellent flavor, nice crumb and crust. I ended up with three loaves and figured it would end up in bread pudding or going out to the birds, but we managed to eat all three of them.