Italian Yeast Peasant Bread

By AllysKitchen

Moist, tender, dense, yet light, a heavenly yeasteee aroma cooking and pull apart fluffy and soft! It reminded me totally of my Grandma Cook’s yeast bread and rolls she used to make weekly faithfully~~when I’d walk to her house as a kid, I could smell that aroma from a block away.

Ingredients

• 2 packages dry yeast
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups water 110-120 degrees (divided)
• 1 egg white for wash on dough

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from allyskitchen.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

Put the 2 packages of yeast in a room temperature large mixing bowl. Add ½ cup of the warm water (about 110-120 degrees) and whisk dissolving the yeast. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining water to the yeast and gently whisk together.

Sift 4 cups of sifted flour and salt into a second mixing bowl. Pour half of the flour into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the remaining flour and blend well. Put the remaining flour on a clean surface. Dump out the dough and knead for about 5 minutes. (Note: leave the flour on this surface because you will knead a second time) Coat a clean large bowl with cooking spray.

Form the dough into a large ball, put in the bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and place in a draft free area and let the dough rise until about double in size (an hour or more). (Note: I put mine in a cold oven. Turn on the light and let it rise. )

After the dough has raised, dump onto the flour surface and knead another 5-7 minutes. Shape into desired bread loaves, make slits (about ½” deep) on top with a sharp knife, cover and let it raise again for about 30 minutes.

Brush the tops/sides of the bread with an egg white (optional) for a shiny finish. Bake in a pre-heated 400 oven about 45-55minutes. (Note: Cover the top with foil if it’s getting too brown.)