There are some things in life that are so enjoyable, no matter how small they may be, that you look forward to them and the thought brings a smile to your face. One of those things in my life is nice fresh baked Italian bread smothered with butter and strawberry jelly washed down with a good cup of coffee in the morning. I developed the taste for this from my mom who got it from her grandmother Bella. Every time I sit down to this for breakfast early in the morning I feel just like my mom, which gives me a fuzzy, warm feeling inside. It is the best when the bread is sliced and toasted. The crunchiness is divine and still holds up even if you tend to dip the slice in the coffee like we do.
Now, we do not have a good Italian bakery very close to us and I can't stand large chain store supermarket Italian bread because it just never tastes right to me. Also, supermarket Italian bread tends to get hard and stale so much faster than the bread that I make from scratch at home. So, a few months ago I was searching on YouTube for recipes and I came across a little older woman named Clara who posted videos of recipes that were from the depression. Me being on a serious budget noticed a kindred spirit in this woman. If you go to the store and buy a loaf of bread you can spend like $5.00 for one loaf alone! Eating is expensive and eating well is even more of a challenge for my little (but sweet) Vera Bradley wallet so any time I can save a few extra bucks without the result being an unhealthy one, I grab that chance right up! This bread recipe makes three loaves for me and the result is so delicious for toasting slices for breakfast or using for sandwiches for lunch, even for a large piece to be served with a nice soup or spaghetti with red sauce for dinner. I also put sesame seeds on my bread loaves because I love the toasted sesame taste they add to my bread. I altered Clara's Sunday bread recipe from her cookbook "Clara's Kitchen", and substituted half semolina pasta flour and half all purpose flour. My result came out of the oven toasty, warm, perfect sponginess on the inside, crispy, crunchy, crusty outside and.....delicious :)
***Warning - take off all your jewelry before starting this recipe as you will be kneading with your hands and you do not want any of your diamonds (real or fake, i won't tell ;) ) to be full of dough because it is sooo hard to get clean after this. ***
Semolina Italian Bread
5 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
4 cups semolina pasta flour
3 1/2 cups warm water, approximately
8 tablespoons olive oil (buy the best one you can afford and make sure it is Italian, the Mediterranean one will change the taste and it is Italian bread that you want to bake, you will be able to taste the difference)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1. Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl (and I mean large, this baby is going to have to rise in this bowl and it gets big). Dig out a well in the middle of the pile.
2. Add the yeast, 1 cup of water, and olive oil to the well. Break up the yeast with your hands and let it melt into the mixture. (It feels clumpy and kinda slimy like lake water but trust me the end result is worth it. Another added bonus by doing this part by hand is that the olive oil really softens up your hands...no need for expensive lotions and creams when you can do it all naturally :) ) After the yeast becomes incorporated with the flour, slowly mix everything together. Gradually add in 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt.
3. Wash your hands, knead the ingredients together, adding more water as you go along. Make sure the mass is doughy, not too mushy and not too dry. If it does get mushy that just means you added too much water and is easily fixed by adding a little bit more flour to it. In all you will add at least 3 1/2 cups of warm water (must be warm, not hot) This should take about 20 minutes of kneading. Clara's advice is to pretend like you're mad at someone because this makes the time go by faster. I laughed hysterically when I heard that and it does work. I also turn up the music, making sure that it is upbeat and that helps the time go by as well.
4. When your dough mass becomes springy in texture, cover it with a clean, damp dish towel. Let it sit on the counter and rise for about an hour to an hour and a half. Let it sit out, don't put it in the refrigerator.
5. After the dough rises, punch it down and divide it equally (or as equally as possible) to three regular sized loaf pans. Flatten each out into individual loaves to fit the pans.
6. Use your trusty dish towel again and cover the loaf pans. Let them sit on the counter for another 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Once the loaves have risen for the second time, brush each loaf with a bit of water and sprinkle the sesame seeds on them. Pop them in the oven for about 40 minutes, when they are done the wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread will fill your kitchen and their crusts will be golden brown.
8. Carefully remove them from the oven and cool first in the in their pan for 30 minutes and then on a rack for another 30-40 minutes.
9. Enjoy :)
***You can freeze these loaves in a Ziploc if you want to keep them out one at a time or bake them ahead of time. Take them out whenever you want to use them and pop them back into the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10-15 minutes, all ovens are different so just watch the loaf to keep it from burning.***
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