Tuscan Bread

On my quest to be a better bread baker, I decided to make an Italian style bread for our lasagna Sunday dinner. Flipping through The Bread Baker's Apprentice, I settled on Tuscan bread - saltless, soft loaf that would make a great bread for soaking up sauce.

Most of the bread in this book takes two days so I have to always be prepared. On Saturday morning, I made a paste and let that sit at room temperature for eight hours. I then added that paste to flour, yeast, water and oil and kneaded it with the bread hook for about 10 minutes. It was really sticky but everything I was reading about the bread said it may be this way, either way, it barely passed the windowpane test.

I left it rise for two hours, punched it down and then let it rise again another two hours. While this was happening, I watched several youtube videos on how to make the perfect boule.

You still with me? I shaped the dough into two boules and then let them retard in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning, I set my oven up for hearth baking and then 30 mins later, I had amazing smelling, beautiful bread.

I think I'm finally getting the hang of baking bread!

If you want the recipe, this is the closest one I have found to the one I have. Happy baking.