Quick Italian bread and Spaghetti Squash

I have always wanted to learn how to make bread from scratch. I have used a bread making machine several times and while it is of course delicious, I don’t ever feel accomplished that I made it. It also is certainly not as fulfilling to throw ingredients in a bowl and forget about it than to get your hands all dirty and sticky in flour and warm dough. My aversion to make bread is always the timing of it. I am very impulsive with my cravings and when I want something, I want it now. When I found this recipe for a homemade Italian bread that only took an hour from start to finish I was shocked at how something could be so enticing and plausible and leaving me to fulfill my fantasy of living in the 1950’s all at once. I got to work on this right away and figured it would complement the spaghetti squash that had been sitting on my counter for two weeks waiting to be made.

So now that I have hyped everyone up with my excitement let me say that when something is too good to be true it usually is…and this bread recipe might fall under that category. I was a little weary about the recipe taking only an hour from start to finish because my idea of baking bread is smelling the yeasty air of an Italian bakery from down the street as the bread rises in the warm sun. (In my mind I live in Venice and am in love with a handsome  Italian man named…..Anthony…ahh la bella vita!) In reality, this bread was just okay. The bread came out very dense and heavy – which is a good thing if that is what you prefer, but I was looking for a more soft and Wonderbread  airy texture. I also think the recipe may have been affected since I chose to use whole wheat flour rather than all-purpose. This added a gritty texture which was delicious but I felt the bread as a whole was a bit dry. I didn’t actually ever get the chance to toast the bread since I gave it away but I think if it had been I would have probably enjoyed it more.

 Overall, this is certainly a nice little recipe to have in the bag if you ever want your house to smell like an Italian villa or to satisfy those carb cravings in a pinch. I think next time I will try a bread recipe that takes a bit longer to prepare because everything that is good is always slow to make J

Quick Italian Bread

• 2 1/2 Cups Warm Water (this should be warm..NOT HOT OR YOU WILL KILL THE YEAST!)
• 2 tbsp Yeast
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 3 tbsp Oil
• 5 1/2 -6 Cups Flour (I used whole wheat)

First:  Add yeast and then sprinkle the sugar over the 2 1/2 cups of water.  Let it sit for about five minutes until you see the yeast get all bubbly on top.

Next:  Stir in the salt, oil, and flour.

Then:  Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.

Then cover your bowl with a warm wet towel and let the dough sit for about 15 minutes.

Next, divide the dough into two long loaves (rolling like a jelly roll and tucking in the ends). Place both loaves side by side on a greased cookie sheet. Then take a knife and slash the tops of each loaf diagonally. Allow the loaves to sit for a few minutes while you preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

I also thought I would add spaghetti squash in this blog since it isn't worthy of its own post. Basically - I just wanted to share that I was really excited that spaghetti squash is already spaghetti'ed. I always thought you had to bake it and then shred it with a fork to get the noodle like meat of it but IT ALREADY COMES THAT WAY! I had more fun taking it out of the squash than actually eating it since I undercooked it and it was crunchy like a raw potato...but none the less always an easy way to sneak those veggies in. And for those of you who are unfamiliar how to prepare, you just cut the squash down the middle, remove the seeds, and bake face down on an oiled cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about an hour.