Homemade Bread
Pane Casareccia
Region: Italy
Category: Bread Doughs, Short Doughs, and Batters
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive

This recipe results in a big round bread loaf with a hard crust and moist, chewy dough with a rustic taste. This is achieved with a high moisture content and long rise. I usually get it going early in the morning, punch it down once after 3 hours, then let it rise another 3 hours, then pour it out onto a floured work surface and form it into the loaf and let it rise again another 2 hours before baking. What is more important than these actual times is the rise itself.  The way it looks should be your guide.  The dough should double in volume and look slightly bubbly on top.  This recipe is a guide and presumes you know the fundamentals of bread baking and have baking stones and an electric mixer.  If you don’t have an electric mixer you must knead the bread 10 minutes after it’s formed into a ball.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 1 loaf
Preparation Time: 6 hours in all

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups bread flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1. Put the yeast in the mixer bowl and pour the water in.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Affix the dough hook and pour in 2 1/2 cups bread flour and salt and start the mixer on a low setting and let run 1 minute, adding the remaining 1/2 cup bread flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour at 30 second intervals.  Turn the setting up to medium and run until a smooth gooey dough that pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 minutes. The dough will be very soft, sticky, and elastic.

2. Grease a large bowl and transfer the dough to it, scraping the dough out with a rubber spatula, and cover with a kitchen towel and let rest to rise until almost double in size, about 3 hours, in a warm place with no draft, such as in a turned-off electric oven. Punch down and let rise again another 2 to 3 hours, covered.

3. Generously flour a work surface and have a mound of flour nearby for your hands and dough scraper. Pour the dough out of the bowl onto the flour on the work surface, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, and shape into a rectangle.  Sprinkle flour on top and start to roll it up widthwise, using your thumbs as a guide for how tight the rolls should be.  Turn the dough 90 degrees, pat it flat, then roll up again still using your thumbs as a guide.  As you do this use the surface of the work table to generate tension and pull the dough taut cross the skin of the dough using flour liberally.  Place the loaf on a floured parchment paper set on a baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

4. Place 3 racks in the oven, one at the very top, one at the very bottom and one just above the very bottom.  Place baking stones on the highest rack and the 2nd lowest rack.  Preheat the oven with the baking stones to 450 degrees and leave it 15 minutes before you bake. The loaf will feel as soft as a baby’s bottom when ready to bake, although you will notice a bit of resistance in the dough. If you have a bread razor (called a lame in French), score the dough to allow expansion while baking.  Spritz the loaf with water and pour some water into a pie pan.  Place the pie pan of water into the lowest rack of the oven.  Place the baking sheet with the loaf on the lower baking stone and bake until very dark brown and hollow-sounding when tapped, 50 minutes.  If in doubt, bake 5 minutes longer.  Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Note: 

Posted: 01/07/2007