Best Pane Italiano Recipes

PANE ITALIANO

Steps:

• Place the water and active dry yeast in the mixing bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Add the flour and salt. KNEAD for a few minutes until the dough is elastic and not sticky.
• Allow dough to rest for 45 minutes covered in the mixing bowl.
• Shape the dough into a long loaf or round ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Let rise in a warm oven for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is to temperature slash the dough on top with a sharp knife and lightly dust with flour. (I also added a sprinkle of kosher salt to the top.)
• Bake for 30 minutes, turning the pan around at the fifteen minute mark. Bake until browned and bread sounds hollow when tapped. For a 1 1/2 pound loaf you will need: 3 cups flour, 9 ounces warm water, 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. For an automatic bread machine: Place everything in the bread pan in order suggested in your ABM manual.

PANE CASSERECCIO RECIPE - ITALIAN COUNTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Create the biga preferment the day before. If using dried yeast follow the instructions below, otherwise, add the yeast to the water and whisk until it's dissolved. Add the biga flour and lightly mix with a dough scraper or your hands until it's incorporated which should take about 2 minutes. Cover, and leave at around 18-25C (64-77F) for 12-18 hours.
• The next day, weigh the ingredients. Add the biga to the water in a large mixing bowl. Now add all the ingredients, excluding the 2nd water and the olive oil, to the bowl or a dough mixer.
• Using a dough scraper (or your hand in a claw shape) in a circular motion, mix the dough to evenly distribute all the ingredients. After a minute or two, take the dough out of the bowl and stretch it slowly on a worktop. Continue this for 5 minutes. Return to the mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a bag and place it in the fridge for 10 minutes Using a dough mixer: Mix for 6 minutes at a slow speed. The dough should feel soft and have visible long gluten but it wont be very strong.
• Take the dough back to the worktop and knead for 10 minutes. Start off slowly and gradually get more intense. the stretch, slap and fold technique shown in the video is preferred here. Cover again and place back in the fridge for another 10 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the fridge and knead fast for 7 minutes on the table. Put the dough back in the bowl and add the second water. Keep folding the dough into the water, it may take a while but it will absorb!. After the water is incorporated, add the olive oil with the same method and knead a couple of minutes more on the table. The dough should look smooth, even and strong.
• Put the dough back in the bowl, cover and take a temperature reading. If it's above 26C (79F) and it's warmer than this in the room, put it in the fridge for 1 hour. If it's cooler than this, leave it on the worktop for the same amount of time.
• Complete a stretch and fold, or simply knock back the dough and return to the bowl.
• Take a temperature check, if above 28C (82F) put it in the fridge, if it's under, the kitchen table is fine. Leave to rest, covered for another hour.
• Complete another stretch and fold or knock back, but this time flour the worktop before hand and after the stretch and fold, let the dough rest in a square shape on the table.
• Left to rest for 20 minutes on the worktop.
• Divide into two equal weights of 650g. Try to keep the square shape, so there is no need to mould. Just divide and position them onto a lightly dusted board or peel.
• Leave them to proof for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours. Preheat the oven with a baking stone and a lipped baking sheet below it to 250C (480F).
• Use the poke test to judge when they are ready to bake. When ready, transfer them onto a peel by sliding one underneath.
• Cut using a bakers lame with a square design, 2 inches away from the edge.
• Slide the loaves into the oven using the peel. Add a cup of hot water to the tray below to create steam (oven gloves should be worn to prevent burning yourself) and quickly shut the door. Turn down the temperature to 220C (430F) and bake for 35-40 minutes. Open the door after 20 minutes to release some of the steam.
• Once the bread has turned a nice light golden colour, use a peel to remove it and allow to cool. You can bake it for longer if you want deeper aromas.

THE ITALIAN BAKER'S PANE DI COMO RECIPE

Steps:

• Starter: Stir the yeast and malt, if you are using the syrup, into the water; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the milk and beat in the flour and malt powder, if you are using it, with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, about 100 strokes or until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until bubbly, at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
• By Hand: Add the water to the starter; mix and squeeze it between your fingers until the starter is fairly well broken up. Mix the flour and salt together and add it, 2 cups at a time, into the starter mixer, stirring after each addition. When the dough is too stiff to mix with a wooden spoon, just plunge in with your hands. Mix until well blended, 4 to 5 minutes. Knead on a well-floured surface until elastic but still moist and tacky. Once it has come together nicely, slap it down vigorously on the work surface to develop the gluten.
• By Mixer: Mix the starter and the water with the paddle until the starter is well broken up. Add the flour and salt and mix for 2 to 3 minutes at low speed. The dough will be smooth but won't pull away from the sides of the bowl. Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, until the dough is elastic but still slightly sticky, 3 to 4 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a floured work surface.
• By Processor: Refrigerate the starter until cold. Unless you have a large processor, make the dough in two batches. Place the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with the dough blade and process with several pulses to sift. Place the starter on top of the flour mixture. With the machine running, pour the 2 cups of cold water through the feed tube and process until the dough comes together and gathers in a small ball. Process 30 to 45 seconds longer to knead. Finish kneading on a well-floured surface with well-floured hands. The dough will be sticky and moist.
• First Rise: Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough is ready when it is very bubbly and blistered.
• Shaping and Second Rise: Cut the dough in half on a floured surface and shape it into two round loaves. Place in oiled and floured 8-inch round bannetons or in baskets lined with generously floured kitchen towels. Cover with towels and let rise until fully doubled and risen to the tops of the bannetons, about 1 hour.
• Baking: Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven with a baking stone in it to 400oF. Just before baking, sprinkle the stone with cornmeal. Very carefully invert the loaves onto the stone and bake until the loaf sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped, about 1 hour. Cool on racks.