Easy Italian Recipes

Rustic White Bread with Madre

This big rustic white loaf, often referred to as the pagnotta, or 'loaf', is found in various guises across Italy. It takes a while to prepare since the dough is left to rise, and is reshaped and moulded four times over 24 hours. Start it in the evening and leave the dough to rise overnight. The dough relies solely on the natural ferment in the madre. It should be full of holes, have a wonderful acidity and a chewy, crispy crust. After making this loaf you will appreciate the difference between artisan loaves and industrially made white bread.

Makes 1 large loaf

350g madre
500g strong white flour
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons honey
300ml tepid water

Mix the flour and the salt in a bowl. Add the honey to the water and blend with a small whisk or your hands. Pour into the flour and add the madre. Using your hands or a plastic dough scraper, bring the ingredients together until you have a loose ball of dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes, until smooth. Try to use additional flour sparingly. Put the dough in a floured bowl and cover with a tea-towel. Let it rise for an hour.
Re-knead the dough and form it into a ball; leave to rest for another hour. Repeat this process once more. Put the dough in a basket lined with a loose-weave linen tea-towel sprinkled with flour. Cover with a cloth and leave in a cool place or the fridge to rise for 14-15 hours. It is ready when doubled in size and it springs back slowly to the touch.
In the last hour, preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas mark 9. Put in a baking tray upside down. When the dough is ready, gently turn it out onto a pala or baking tray sprinkled with semolina. Spray the oven with water. Slash the top of the dough with a cross and slide it onto the hot inverted tray. Spray the oven with water and quickly close the door to trap the steam inside. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7 and bake for 25-30 minutes. If it begins to burn after 25 minutes and is not cooked through, turn the oven down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. The loaf is ready when light to the touch and hollow-sounding if tapped on the base.

Quick White Bread

This is a quick white dough without a biga or madre. It can be used as a basic dough for the Spinach and Ricotta Rolls, the Roasted Vegetable Rolls and the Walnut and Olive Breads. One of our chefs, Chef, used to make a large batch of this dough and leave it in the fridge overnight to rise. He would then turn it into seeded rolls, focaccia, pizza for the staff lunch and grissini. By leaving it to rise slowly, he ensured the dough developed its flavour through slow fermentation rather than adding a starter. The simplicity of this recipe is that it has one rising after being kneaded and shaped. This gives a close-grained loaf, If you have time and prefer a more open grain, leave to rise in a bowl for an hour or two or overnight like Chef, then shape and allow to prove again.

2 teaspoons salt
500g strong white flour lOg fresh yeast
350ml tepid water

Mix the salt into the flour on a board and make a well in the centre. Blend the yeast into the water with a small whisk or your hands, then pour it into the well in the mound of flour. Bring the dough together with your fingers or a dough scraper and collect it into a ball.

Try to use additional flour sparingly; a good dough should be as wet as possible without being impossible to handle. Establish a pattern of pushing the dough out into a long oval, then fold it back towards you, trapping air inside. Next give a quarter turn and push it out again. Keep thinking: stretch it, fold it, turn it; stretch it, fold it, turn it. 

The dough is ready when it is springs back to the touch, feels elastic and stops sticking to the board. If the amount you are making is big, split the dough into 2 to make it easier to knead.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. Shape the dough as required and place it on a flat piece of wood or baking tray dusted with flour or semolina. This helps it slide into the oven when risen. Leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 45-60 minutes. When ready, the dough should slowly bounce back to the touch. Make a cross in the top of the dough, then put in the oven on an oiled baking tray. Bake the loaves for 30-35 minutes, the rolls for about 20 minutes.