Italian bread

I enjoyed making this bread and especially eating it! The taste is superb and delicious to eat even when plain with soups and stews. Love the sesame seeds on top. If you can't get bread flour then just use all-purpose as I do. Also I changed the recipe a bit and added some whole wheat flour.

Sponge
2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tbl dry yeast
3 cups bread flour

Dough
3 tbl sucanat
3 tbl olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
Cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet
1/4 cup sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Sponge In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and allow to stand for a few minutes to soften. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Cover and set aside in a warm place until doubled in volume (30 to 45 minutes).

Dough Stir down the sponge and add the sucanat, oil, 2 cups flour, and the salt. Mix until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead, adding more all-purpose flour if necessary, until the dough feels soft and silky (8 to 10 minutes). Here the dough felt quite sticky so it was necessary to add flour. Do this while kneading but watch out that you don't add more flour than necessary or else the dough will become too 'heavy'. It should push back when pressed and your hand should come away clean.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume (35 to 45 minutes). Punch down, cut in half, shape into rounds, and cover. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Shaping Form into Italian-shaped loaves. Here you need to fold the bread as I show in pictures on my Dutch blog. Then once folded roll the dough into shape. Place the loaves on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. I place the bread on baking paper and then don't need to use the cornmeal. Brush with water and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size (45 to 60 minutes).

Baking Preheat the oven to 400F/200 C. Bake with steam until golden brown (25 to 30 minutes). The bread is done when it emits a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom with your fingertips and the sides feel hard and crisp.

Makes 2 loaves.

Taken from the book 'Secrets of a Jewish Baker'.