Description
I was speaking with my mother, Pauline, last week, and she told me about a bread she used to eat at her grandmother’s house. She said it was basic Italian bread, but had some cornmeal in it, and was one of her favorites. I love to play food detective, so I took her description and went to work. I believe this is pretty close to what she remembers, and even if it’s a bit off, it was still delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- ½ cup bread flour
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- ⅛ teaspoon white sugar
- ½ cup cornmeal
- 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups bread flour, or as needed
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal, or as needed
Instructions
- Stir warm water
- 1/2 cup bread flour
- yeast
- and sugar together in a bowl. Let stand until the yeast softens and forms a creamy mixture
- about 40 minutes.
- Mix 1/2 cup cornmeal
- olive oil
- and salt into yeast mixture. Gradually add bread flour to yeast mixture until a dough pulls together.
- Knead dough on a lightly floured work surface until smooth and elastic
- 10 to 12 minutes. Place dough in a large
- lightly-oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume
- about 2 hours.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 14-inch wide rectangle. Roll dough
- starting from the long-end
- into a loaf
- finishing seam-side down.
- Dust a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon cornmeal. Place loaf on baking sheet
- cover with a dry towel
- and let rise until doubled
- about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place a shallow pan of water on the lower rack of the oven.
- Cut a 1/2-inch deep slash down the center of the loaf.
- Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown and the bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped
- 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 4 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 8