Pugliese Bread

Photo: flickr user grongar

Ingredients

8 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour

3 cups Water

2 tablespoons Salt

1 packet Instant dry yeast - (4 oz)

Olive oil for bowl

Preparation

Mix flour, water, and yeast together in a large mixing bowl. Knead vigorously on a lightly floured surface; dough should be sticky and wet. After ten minutes of perspiration and exhaustion, add salt. Kneed for an additional 5 to 7 minutes until dough begins to pull away from the working surface and develops a smooth, light sheen. Lightly coat the interior of a large mixing bowl with olive oil; make sure the bowl is at least three times larger than the dough. Set dough in bowl, and let rise until it triples in volume, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Heat the oven to 500 degrees with a baking stone or abaking cloche. Meanwhile, divide dough in half, and form two ovals or rounds. Allow to sit on generously floured parchment paper or dish towel. Let dough double in size, about 45 minutes.

You are now ready to bake. Invert dough onto heated baking stone or cloche, and then score deeply with a razor or a sharp knife, making three slashes about 2 inches long. If you have a baking cloche, cover it immediately with the bell. If using a baking stone, you need to add moisture to the oven for at least 20 minutes of the baking process. To do this, place a pie pan filled with ice cubes on the floor of the oven to produce steam; refill withmore ice as necessary. After 20 minutes, remove the bell or moisture source and lower temperature to 425 degrees.