Top | Bread

Pane Bianco

(recipe, Anna Conley)

Introduction

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2010/09/02/dust-off-your-recipe-box-its-competition-time-enter-the-2011-national-festival-of-breads/

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup warm water
  2. ¼ cup sugar
  3. 4 tsp. instant yeast
  4. 1 cup lukewarm low-fat milk
  5. ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  6. 2 large eggs
  7. 2 tsp. salt
  8. 6 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
  9. 8½ -ounce jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
  10. ⅔ cup chopped basil (about ½ ounce)
  11. 1½ cups of shredded Italian cheese blend
  12. ¾ tsp. of granulated garlic or garlic powder

Steps

  1. Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer for a minute or so, until the dough starts to come together. Dianna’s original recipe called for 5 to 5½ cups of flour, but we found that made a very sticky dough, so we added a bit more flour…
  2. …to make a more cohesive dough that looked like something we could make bread with.
  3. Switch to a dough hook, and knead for about 5 to 7 minutes, till you’ve made a soft, smooth dough.
  4. Grease a bowl with olive oil. Place your dough into the bowl, and turn it over to grease the top. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until double, about 45 minutes.
  5. First, drain the oil from an 8.5-ounce jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes; lay the drained tomatoes on some paper towel to soak up any excess oil.
  6. Using kitchen shears, make ⅔ cup chopped basil (about ½ ounce). Chop the sun-dried tomatoes the same way. Measure out 1½ cups of shredded Italian cheese blend, and ¾ teaspoon of granulated garlic or garlic powder.
  7. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
  8. Once the dough has doubled…
  9. …deflate it and divide it in two. You’ll make two lovely loaves with this recipe.
  10. Roll one piece of the dough out…
  11. …until you have a rectangle approximately 8½” by 22”. A kneading/rolling mat makes the measuring (and cleanup!) easy.
  12. Sprinkle on half of the garlic…
  13. …and half of the tomatoes…
  14. …and half of the basil and cheese.
  15. Now roll the whole thing into a log the long way.
  16. Pinch the edge to seal, and place the log seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  17. Here’s the part that looks tricky, but really isn’t: shaping.
  18. Get those kitchen shears out again, and cut lengthwise down the center of the log, about 1” deep, leaving about ½” uncut at each end to hold everything together.
  19. It’ll start to fall apart a little bit; don’t worry, just keep on going.
  20. Keeping the cut side up, take the ends of the log and form an “S” shape.
  21. Tuck the ends under the middle of the “S” to form a figure 8; pinch the ends together.
  22. Cover the loaf and let it rise in a warm place until double, about 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, fill and shape the second loaf, and preheat your oven to 350°.
  23. When the first loaf has risen, place it in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting with foil after 15 to 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. The kitchen will begin to smell wonderfully of tomatoes, basil, garlic, and cheese.
  24. When the first loaf is golden brown, pull it out, set it on a rack to cool, and bake the second loaf.
  25. Mmmmm. Enjoy your gorgeous loaf – preferably with a crowd of family and friends who’ll be so impressed by its unique shape!