Best Yet, Easiest Yet, Crusty Italian Bread



This crusty Italian loaf has to be the easiest, crustiest, and one of the tastiest loaves I have ever made.  It is now one of my go-to loaf breads.  And if that's not enough, there's no kneading.  Just stir the ingredients together, wait four hours for the dough to rise on your countertop, shape into a rough loaf, baguettes, rolls or even pizza, and bake. 

Look at that gorgeous crust.  The first night when I served this, the crust was crispy, chewy on the outside, soft and luxurious on the inside.  I wrapped the remaining loaf in aluminium foil the the crust softened, but the inside was still delicious and wonderfully soft on the inside.  I can't wait to try this recipe as hard rolls to serve with soup or to use it as a pizza crust.  I think it will be outstanding!

Nonna's Crusty Bread
(www.isicilian.bonrepublic.com) 

4 cups, all-purpose, unbleached flour (I used King Arthur's flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast
2 cups warm water

Oven-proof baking dish or casserole containing 2-3 cups of water (to be used while baking the bread)

Combine the dry ingredients for the bread in a large bowl.  Add the 2 cups of warm water and stir to combine and forms a sticky mass. 

Cover the bowl and allow the bread ingredients to rise for about 4 hours on your counter.  The surface of the dough will have bubbles about 1/4 inch in diameter. 

Preheat your oven to 500*F.  Put your bakeware with the 2-3 cups of hot water in the oven.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Dump your dough out onto a well-floured surface, covering the outside surface with flour as the dough is wet and sticky.  Handling the dough as little as possible (you're trying not to burst the bubbles) , shape your dough into your desired shape. 

Bake in your preheated 500*F oven for 60 minutes, or depending on your oven, more or less time.  For me, I found that 45 minutes was ample, but I also note that the ISicilian's bread is much darker than mine.  I chickened out at 45 minutes, fearing that my bread would burn to a crisp.

For more hints about using this dough, I suggest you visit the post for Nonna's Crusty Bread.  She has suggestions for keeping the dough in your refrigerator and for reheating the bread.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Biscotti

 

I just love the idea of cranberry and white chocolate; they look so festive appropriate for the season.  I took these to the office as a treat, and my workmates gave them a big thumbs up.  The flavor is much improved the second day, and  if stored in an airtight container, these biscotti will last several days. 

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti
(Allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cranberries
**1 1/2 teaspoons dried orange peel (my addition)

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.  Combine flour and baking powder gradually add to creamed mixture.  Stir in cranberries and vanilla chips (and orange peel if using) .

Divide dough into three portions.  On parchment-lined baking sheets, using your impeccably clean hands, shape each portion into a 10" x 2" rectangle.  (It may help you to slightly dampen your hands to shape the dough.)

Bake at 350*F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Transfer loaves to cutting board; using a serrated knife cut into diagonal 1-inch slices.  Place cut side down onto baking sheet(s) and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove from oven, cool on wire racks.  Store in air-tight container.

Baked Manicotti, Tomato Sauce & Meatballs

When my husband was alive, he worked for a small printing company south of Boston. Any number of interesting political, entrepreneurial, business owners, the scandalous and the saintly, would cross his threshold for printing needs. One of the nicest folks were the Dragone ricotta and mozzarella cheese folks. In the process of order taking, my husband learned they had a booklet of recipes using their products, and for a discount on their printing services, he obtained the booklet for me (after mentally inflating the price by ten percent and then offering them a ten percent discount; I leave it to you to decide if he were scandalous or saintly). It has been this booklet that I have referred to for some of the best authentic Italian cooking that I know.

To start, I do not buy the manicotti tubes; I cannot figure out how to stuff them neatly without the tubes splitting down the side or having big gaping holes where the cheese was not tamped in far enough. Thankfully, Dragone did include a crepe batter recipe, which works like a charm and gives me the added satisfaction of presenting something homemade.

Crepes for Manicotti

1 cup flour
1 cup milk (or more as needed to achieve a thin-pancake batter consistency)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
(each mixture makes 8-9 manicotti shells)

Stir milk gradually with flour until smooth Add, stirring constantly, the beaten egg to which the salt has been added. For each shell, brush a preheated 6-inch frying pan with olive oil, and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan, tilting back and forth so that it spreads evenly.

When set on one side, turn and let the other side set. Slide off pan onto a clean work surface or dish and repeat until batter is used. (I separate the crepes with a piece of waxed paper to prevent them from sticking to each other).

Let cook slightly, then place 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each crepe, (I usually make a cheese "log" as I like a lot of cheese) bringing the sides over so that they overlap the filling. Arrange side by side in a baking dish, cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Manicotti Filling

1 pound ricotta
2 eggs
1/2 pound mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste (taste the mixture before adding the salt; the cheese is already salty)
(you can also add 1/4 pound chipped Italian ham)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mixing well to combine. (Yes, I am still brand loyal to Dragone after all these years.)


Tomato Sauce

Everyone has their favorite; this is my go-to tomato sauce for just about everything that needs a tomato sauce. If I were to make a cacciatore, I would start with this sauce and add peppers and larger hunks of onion. For Spanish rice, add the necessary spices, black olives, etc. and add it to the rice. For a meat sauce, add 1/2 pound each ground hamburg and Italian sausage (casing removed).

3 tablespoons olive oil (a couple of good swirls)
1 small onion chopped (I like onion, I add 2)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 large can Italian tomatoes
1 can (6 ounces tomato paste)
1 small carrot grated (to add natural sweetness and a well-disguised veggie!)
salt to taste (start with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust)

Heat oil oil in sauce pan, add onion, garlic and spices. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent but not browned.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer gently for about 45 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Tomatoes can be a little acidic, so you may need to add a pinch more sugar. If the sauce seems too thick while it is simmering, add 1/4 cup of hot water.


Meatballs

I found this meatball recipe on Recipezaar and they are just about perfect. I never fry my meatballs, opting to bake them in the oven when I bake my manicotti or lasagna. I think they hold up much better; I just serve them on the side or add them to my tomato sauce, depending on what I'm doing. I've shared this recipe with a couple of friends and we all agree, these are mighty fine.

They make a terrific addition to a meatball sub. Catch my next post.

Italian Anise Cookies

One of my best memories of living in Boston area is the Italian bakeries there. Oh, I never knew such a wonderful variety of exciting foods existed until I moved there. I had moved from a country town in New Hampshire to a city of over 250,000. Food that was both beautiful and delicious! I had found culinary heaven.

In the midst of my travels, I discovered a wonderful Italian cookie, full of anise flavor and so beautiful to behold. Though these cookies are sold year around, they say "spring" to me because of their brightly colored, pastel sprinkles and pale yellow cookie. My Italian friends zealously guarded their recipes, saying their recipe was given to them by their mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, and never to be shared outside of the family. So, for many years, I relied on the local bakeries to satisfy my cookie cravings.



I gave up any hope of finding a recipe like the cookies I missed. Many called themselves Italian anise cookies but none were what I remembered. And then, one day, quite serendipitously I found it on cooks.com. The flavor, the texture, the colors are exactly what I recalled. I have made this recipe many times, have shared with friends who've said, "What bakery did you say these came from?"

Italian Anise Cookies (also called Angeliones)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon anise extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon of any of the above extracts
nonpareils (sprinkles)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line the sheet with parchment paper.

First melt the shortening and butter; cool. In a separate, medium-sized, bowl combine eggs, sugar, anise, lemon, and vanilla flavorings. Blend in melted shortening and butter mixture. Sift and the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and add to wet ingredients. Mix well until a soft dough is formed. After this point, you may want to chill the dough to make it easier to work with. Place spoonful of dough on cookie sheet. The dough spreads to about twice its size, so leave plenty of space. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

In the meantime, make the glaze. Combine the glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the warm cookies and immediately sprinkle with nonpareils as the glaze will quickly harden.

Makes about 5 dozen, 2-inch cookies.

These cookies have the best flavor after they've been allowed to ripen a bit.

So good! I hope you enjoy them, too.