1/4 cup olive oil
1 cake yeast [or 1 package active dry yeast, 8 grams]
1 tablespoon salt
6 1/4 cups flour
2 cups or more lukewarm water

Fill bowl with flour, make a well in center and add water, salt, and crumble yeast in with hands; mix thoroughly and add olive oil; knead until elastic and pliable, cover and set to rise. When dough has risen to double in bulk, punch down and knead well; let rise again.

Form dough into two loaves; place in oiled bread pans to rise again, then bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) about 1 hour, or until bread shrinks from sides of pans.

This recipe was taken from "The Complete Italian Cook Book: La Cucina" by Rose L. Sorce. It was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1953. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org.... Chapter Fourteen begins with the following note Mixing Dough for Italian Bread (Pane Italiano) The basic ingredients for Italian bread are flour, yeast, salt and sufficient lukewarm water to hold them together. If desired a few tablespoons of sugar may be added. For a stiff dough, mix ingredients, using water sparingly; knead by folding edges of dough toward center, press down and away with palms of hands, turning dough around and around as you knead until it no longer sticks tot he hands or board, handling dough lightly the while. When dough is smooth and elastic, try working in about 1/;4 cup of olive oil to impart a delicious nutty flavor to bread. Dough is ready when smooth and elastic; this can be ascertained by poking your finger into the dough to see if it springs back smoothly. For a sponge dough, mix about a cup of lukewarm water with the yeast and salt, then beat in part of the flour; continue adding flour and beating after each addition until you have a spongy dough. Add more water, if needed. Knead as described above. Let dough rise at room temperature, free from drafts. This can be made certain by covering dough with a blanket. As dough rises, punch down once and let rise again. Shape loaves by dividing dough into equal parts, and placing them in loaf tins that have been rubbed with olive oil; let rise again to double in size, then bake. Bake loaves in moderate oven about 1 hour, or until bread shrinks from sides of pan........ Photo of store-bought Italian bread: Mary Melfi.

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