Classic Italian Bread

Why this recipe works You might assume that you have to make a trip to a bakery for good Italian bread, or else settle for pale, doughy supermarket loaves, but making your own from scratch is surprisingly simple. For a classic loaf with a thin, crisp crust and a chewy but tender crumb, we started with bread flour and then focused on our biggest challenge: flavor. We hoped to shorten the rising time for the bread, but that meant we would be reducing the fermentation time, which provides a lot of flavor. To make up for this, we added yeasty tang by using beer as the main liquid in our dough. Preheating our baking stone for an hour gave us a nicely browned crust, and misting the loaf with water before baking helped the exterior of the bread stay supple and encouraged additional rise and a light, tender crumb. We prefer to use a mild American lager, such as Budweiser, here; strongly flavored beers will make this bread taste bitter.

MAKES: 1 loaf

RISING TIME: 1½ to 2½ hours

BAKING TIME: 25 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 3 to 4 hours, plus 3 hours cooling time

KEY EQUIPMENT: pizza peel, baking stone, water-filled spray bottle, instant-read thermometer

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups (16½ ounces) bread flour
• 1½ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces) mild lager, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons (3 ounces) water, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, yeast, and salt. In a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together beer, water, and oil.
2. Using the dough hook attachment on low speed, slowly add the beer mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until a cohesive dough starts to form and no dry flour remains, scraping down the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead for about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and clears the sides of the bowl.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, for about 30 seconds. Place the dough seam side down in a lightly greased large bowl or container. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, typically 1 to 1½ hours.
4. Line a pizza peel with a 16 by 12-inch piece of parchment paper, with the long edge perpendicular to the handle. Gently press down on the dough to deflate any large gas pockets. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter, with the side that was against the bowl facing up. Press and stretch the dough into a 10-inch square.
5. Fold the top corners of the dough diagonally into the center of the square and press gently to seal.
6. Stretch and fold the upper third of the dough toward the center and press the seam gently to seal.
7. Stretch and fold the dough in half toward you to form a rough loaf and pinch the seam closed.
8. Starting at the center of the dough and working toward the ends, gently and evenly roll and stretch the dough until it measures 15 inches long by 4 inches wide. Roll the loaf seam side down.
9. Gently slide your hands underneath each end of the loaf and transfer it seam side down to the prepared pizza peel.
10. Reshape the loaf as needed, tucking the edges under to form a taut torpedo shape. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let it rise until the loaf increases in size by about half and the dough springs back minimally when gently poked with your knuckle, typically 30 minutes to 1 hour.
11. One hour before baking, adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and place a baking stone on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp paring knife or a single-edge razor blade, make one ½-inch-deep slash with a swift, fluid motion lengthwise along the top of the loaf, starting and stopping about 1½ inches from the ends.
12. Mist the loaf with water and slide the parchment paper with the loaf onto the baking stone. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the loaf registers 205 to 210 degrees Fahrenheit, typically 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the loaf halfway through baking. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack, discard the parchment paper, and let it cool completely for about 3 hours before serving.