Crusty Italian breads are usually the simplest ones: flour, water, yeast, and salt, with no eggs, butter, sour cream, sugar, mashed potatoes, or anything else that might turn them into softies.
Sure, you might see a crusty bread recipe calling for a teaspoon of sugar, or a tablespoon of dried milk powder; these small amounts of softening agents may keep the loaf’s interior tender, but won’t affect the crispness of the crust.
Easy and quick Italian rustic crusty bread at home, no knead, no machine, no dutch oven, with only 2 hour rise time. Made by hand, with active dry instant yeast, flour and water and baked on a hot pizza stone.
The right bread can be the difference between a cheesesteak and a “genuine Philly style steak and cheese sandwich.”
Philadelphians understand that line. The rest of you might be scratching your heads wondering what I’m talking about. In a word: Amoroso’s. Okay, that’s not helping you yet, is it?
Okay, put it this way. When you’re in Italy, you wouldn’t describe a restaurant as “Italian”. Kind of obvious, right? Well, when you’re in Philly you wouldn’t ask for a “Philly style steak sandwich”. You’d ask for a cheesesteak. Unless you want people to look at you like you just stepped in a pile of dog poo.
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INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
To Find Out All The Yummy Ingredients And The Step By Step Directions To Follow for this Delicious recipes, Open the next page.
INGREDIENTS
makes 2 loaves
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
- 4 cups flour
DIRECTIONS:
- Place warm water, yeast and brown sugar in mixing bowl. Stir and let stand for a few minutes until it start to bubble and foam a bit.
- Add olive oil and salt. Mix and add the flour gradually. You want to add enough that the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
- You want to mix it with the dough hook for a few minutes.
- Cover and let the dough rise until doubled about 30 minutes.
- Punch down dough and divide in two and form into two loaves (I doubled the recipe this time.)
- Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat together:
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
- Brush the risen loaves with the egg mixture.
- Make a single long quick cut down the center of the loaves with a sharp knife.
- Now here’s the secret. Place atleast 1 cup hot water in a shallow pan and place it on the rack underneath the bread. The steam will make the crust turn perfectly.
- You may need to add a bit more water during cooking. You do not want it to evaporate.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the loaves turn golden brown and sound hollow when you tap them.
- Remove from pan and let cool on racks. I always like to rub butter over the hot crust!
YUM!
From: allrecipes.com