Though Italians make and eat a lot of carb-based dishes, they try not to pair one starch with another at a single time.
Italian restaurants in the United States usually bring out a basket of bread before your meal is served so you have something to enjoy while you wait, so just take stock of where you are. Different countries have different customs.
Generally, you won’t get butter along with your bread at a restaurant in Italy. However, if you’re in the States and want to butter your pugliese bread, butter a single bite-sized piece at a time as you eat rather than buttering an entire slice.
Traditionally, oil and vinegar are exceptional ingredients used to enhance the flavors of other elements. Using them as a dipping sauce is seen as wasteful. Of course, in the comfort of your own home or Italian restaurants in the United States, dipping bread in oil is quite ordinary and delicious!
If you don’t have an Italian bakery in town, stop at a local Italian restaurant and ask if you can buy a loaf of bread directly from them.
If you feel the pieces of bread are too large, cut them in half after you’ve sliced the loaf. If the tomato and basil mixture is really wet, use a slotted spoon to put it on the bread. This will keep the bread from getting overly soggy.
If you want, cut the recipe in half and bake it for about 35 minutes. Strata is often eaten for breakfast, but it’s delicious at any time of day! You could prep this dish the night before, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Just take it out of the refrigerator while the oven preheats in the morning.
This is a great way to use up bread that is starting to get a little stale.
To make fast and delicious croutons, rip up your leftover pugliese bread into about 1⁄2 in (1. 3 cm) pieces. Fry them in 1⁄3 in (0. 85 cm) of hot extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) on one side for 30-60 seconds, then flip and fry them for another 60 seconds. Use tongs to remove the croutons from the pan and let them cool on a paper-towel-lined plate. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and add them to soups and salads![10] X Research source
This recipe is for a very basic, simple loaf of pugliese bread. There are more intricate recipes than span a couple of days if you want to try a more advanced version.
The dough will be very sticky and wet at the beginning, so don’t worry if it’s sticking to your hands. If you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, you could use that instead of kneading the dough by hand. Just mix it on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
If you’re using your stand mixer, follow the same instructions. Mix the dough on medium speed until it starts to pull away from the mixing bowl walls.
Make sure to use a large bowl for this process, as it’ll need to contain the dough as it rises and triples in size.
You may want to cover the bowl with a cotton towel to keep any bugs or dust from falling in. Placing the bowl inside a microwave (without turning the microwave on) can help the dough rise, especially if you live in a colder climate. It can be hard to tell how much dough has risen when it’s in a sloped bowl. Mark the dough level with a piece of masking tape on the outside of the bowl at the beginning so you can see how far it rises past that point after 2-3 hours.
These are somewhat rustic loaves, so it’s okay if they aren’t the same size. If you want them to be perfectly equal, weigh the dough on a kitchen scale and measure the exact proportions. If you don’t have a baking stone, you could use a dutch oven, a cast-iron pan, or even a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
If you do use a kitchen towel, make sure it’s 100% cotton. Blends can easily get their fibers stuck in the dough and could be difficult to remove later on.
A lame is a special baker’s tool used to make slashes in loaves of bread before they go into to oven. This process is called “scoring. ” Be very, very careful when moving the baking stone. It’s scorching and could easily burn you. Wear oven mitts and be mindful of your hands.
The ice cubes will melt in the oven and create steam, forming a beautiful, chewy crust.
Depending on your oven, your loaves may need a few minutes more or less of cook time in the oven.
If you want to get really technical, insert a food thermometer into the bottom of one of the loaves. The temperature should reach about 190 to 210 °F (88 to 99 °C).
