Homemade Italian Bread | Pasquale Sciarappa Recipes (2024)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups Bread flour
• 3/4 tsp. Salt
• 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3/4 cup Warm Water
• 1 Tbsp. Yeast
• 1/4 cup Warm Water, for mixing with the yeast
• 1 Egg, scrambled
• Semolina Flour

Begin by mixing the yeast with the 1/4 cup of warm water.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix the yeast and water combination again before adding into the large bowl.

Using clean hands, begin mixing the contents in the bowl, by hand. If too dry, slowly add in the extra water. Add in 1/4 cup of water at a time and mix in between. Once all of the water is added, if still too dry, add in a little bit more water. If too wet, don’t worry, you can add in a little bit of flour. If your hands are sticking to the dough, dip your hands in a bowl of water before kneading the dough again.

Once the dough is fully mixed, split into two, and place into two separate bowls that have been lightly sprinkled with flour. Once the dough balls are in each bowl, sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of each dough ball and cover with plastic wrap. Place a towel on top of both bowls and let sit for one hour to allow the dough to grow.

After one hour, cover your hands in flour and then remove the dough from the bowl and place on your tabletop or cutting board. Roll the dough out so that it is about two to three inches thick and then place on a cutting board that has been sprinkled with flour. Cover with a towel and let it sit for 30 minutes to allow it to grow. After about 30 minutes, it grows about twice its size.

Preheat the oven to 410°F with a pizza stone inside.

After the 30 minutes, cut very thin slits on top of the dough, diagonally, about two inches apart. Brush the raw, scrambled egg over top the dough, to give it a beautiful color when baked.

Sprinkle some semolina flour over top a pizza peel and place the bread dough on top. Slide the bread dough onto the pizza stone and let bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set aside for at least five minutes. Cut into slices and serve with your favorite dish or with some delicious extra virgin olive oil for dipping. Salute and cin cin!