Kittencal's Italian-style Bread

Total Time: 2 hrs 17 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 17 mins

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose white flour (more if needed, use bread flour for u.s.)
• 3 tablespoons cornmeal (can use yellow or white cornmeal)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal

Recipe

• 1 prepare a heavy-duty stand mixer with the kneading attachment.
• 2 pour in 2-1/2 cups flour, cornmeal, 2 teaspoons sugar, olive oil and salt into the stainless steel mixing bowl.
• 3 in a measuring cup proof the yeast with 1-1/4 cups warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar for about 8-10 minutes or until foamy.
• 4 pour the water/yeast mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture in it, then start kneading adding in more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl, and dough is soft and smooth not sticky and wet (kneading should take about 6-8 minutes).
• 5 transfer the dough into an oiled bowl.
• 6 cover and let rise in a warm place for about 45-50 minutes, or until doubled (watch the dough closely since you are using a smaller amount of flour, and using 3 teaspoons of yeast, the dough rises a little quicker!).
• 7 punch down; cover and let rest for about 10-12 minutes in the bowl (this is important, the dough must rest for 10-12 minutes after punching down and before shaping!).
• 8 transfer the dough a lightly-floured surface and evenly divide in half.
• 9 shape each half into a thin 10-12-inch long loaf (or you can shape in one thicker shorter loaf if desired).
• 10 place the shaped loaves a 15 x 10-inch baking sheet that has been lighly greased and then sprinkled with about 2 tablespoons cornmeal.
• 11 cover with a clean tea towel and let rise for about 25-30 minutes.
• 12 spray the tops of the bread with cooking spray (i use pam olive oil spray for this).
• 13 bake at 400°f for about 20-22 minutes for 2 small long loaves, or until golden brown (adjust baking time longer for 1 large loaf).
• 14 cool on a wire rack.