Okay, so I’ve been on this kick lately, trying to perfect my homemade bread game. You know, like really getting into it. And let me tell you, this Italian hero bread thing? It’s been a journey, a delicious, sometimes frustrating, always carb-filled journey. I found this italian hero bread recipe pdf online, and figured, why not give it a shot?
First off, I gathered all my ingredients. Nothing fancy, just your basic bread stuff: flour, water, yeast, salt, a little sugar, and some olive oil. The recipe called for bread flour, but I only had all-purpose, so I rolled with that. (Spoiler: it worked out fine.) I activated the yeast with the sugar in warm water. Then, I mixed everything together.
- Flour
- Water
- Yeast
- Salt
- Sugar
- Olive oil
The next part was the kneading. Now, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not a pro at this. My technique is probably all wrong, but I just kind of pushed and folded the dough for a good ten minutes until it felt, you know, elastic-y. Then, I placed it in a greased bowl, covered it, and let it rise. This took about an hour, maybe a bit longer because my kitchen’s a little chilly.
First rise done
Once the dough had doubled in size, I punched it down. That’s always satisfying. Then came the shaping part. I divided the dough in half and tried my best to form these long, kinda oval shapes. They weren’t perfect, but hey, rustic is in, right? I put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, covered them again, and let them rise for another 30 minutes or so.
Second rise and baking
While the loaves were rising, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Then the recipe said to score the tops, which I did, but I don’t really think I did it deep enough. Next time, I’ll be braver with the knife, I guess. Popped them in the oven and baked for about 25 minutes. The smell was amazing, by the way, pure bakery heaven.
When they came out, they were golden brown and crusty, maybe a tad overdone on the bottom, but still pretty good looking if I do say so myself. I let them cool for a bit, then sliced one open. The inside was soft and chewy, just like it should be. Honestly, I was pretty proud of myself. I slathered some butter on a slice and took a bite. It was delicious. Not exactly like the Italian hero bread from my favorite deli, but definitely a solid homemade version. I’ll be making this again, for sure. Maybe next time I’ll try adding some herbs or something. And I’ll definitely work on my scoring technique. But all in all, a win in my book.
