World Bread Day: My Hubby bakes an Italian Bread with Semolina and Olive Oil

Italienisches Brot mit Weizengrieß und Olivenöl

You may have wondered why I barely ever introduce bread on my baking blog as I do today with this Italian bread with semolina and olive oil. Yes, there are a few recipes, such as this farmer’s bread, these Danish buns with yoghurt, or homemade croissants. You may think that I mainly eat cakes and cookies, but that is definitely not true. There is a very simple reason why I barely publish bread recipes. The reason is my beloved hubby who is the master of bread-baking. He even has baking running in his blood, his grandfather was the baker of the entire village. So you can probably imagine that he is very good at baking bread, much better than me. Well, at least today. His beginnings were rather humble, I distinctly recall when I told him about the fact that yeast likes it warm and cozy. I also remember when we made our first yeast bread together. He very awkwardly punched the bread and asked me how I knew when the right consistency was reached.

But soon after his humble beginnings he transformed to an excellent bread baker. He works in IT, he is a computer scientist and for that reason he did a lot of research on bread baking, he did experiements and in general loves a very scientific approach to baking. One blogger who definitely contributed to him becoming a master is Lutz from the blog Plötzblog (in German). Lutz also has an extremely scientific approach to baking, he even tells you exactly at which temperature the bread has to rise. His precise language and very scientific recipes were music to the ears of my hubby.

Yes, we do have homemade sourdough at home. Yes, each time we have new guests, we will inevitably talk about the many jars and glasses with dubious beige fillings we have displayed at home. Yes, my husband does bake all of the bread we eat at home and yes, I will always taste the difference of bread bought at a bakery, even if the bakery is ultra-organic, I can guarantee you that my huband’s bread tastes better.  And since my husband has been baking our entire bread consumption (mind you, I am German, so we eat bread daily) so faithfully, I am beyond excited in taking part in the World Bread Day 2018. Zorra from the blog Kochtopf (in German) writes in her blog entry about the World Bread Day:

Homemade bread is one of the best foods of the world!

There is nothing better than smelling home-baked bread!

If you think the same you have to take part in the World Bread Day 2018 on October 16.

World Bread Day, October 16, 2018

Well, today is October 16, 2018 and I am hereby taking part in World Bread Day. Even though I didn’t bake the bread, but my husband.  But he graciously gave me permission to document the process and also publish the recipe. While I watched him work his magic. I am happy he agreed to this because I strongly believe that we should make our own bread, we should smell the dough, touch it, see how something magical happens when we throw flour, water, and yeast together.

Credit: Plötzblog (in German)

Italian Bread with and Olive Oil

Serves: Two loaves of bread
Cooking Time: 30min preparation + ca. 4 hrs of rising + 50min of baking

Ingredients

  • // Day 1 //
  • Dough 1
  • 30 grams of semolina
  • 150 grams of water
  • 22 grams of salt

  • Dough 2
  • 250 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 250 grams of cold water
  • 2.5 grams of fresh yeast


  • // Day 2 //
  • Dough 3
  • 720 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 370 grams of lukewarm water

  • Additional Ingredients
  • 40 grams of olive oil
  • 7.5 grams of fresh yeast

Instructions

1

On day 1 mix the three ingredients from day 1 and bring to a boil, let thicken for a little, then spoon onto plastic wrap, cover tightly and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Mix the ingredients from dough 2 by hand, place in airtight container and chill for 24 hours.

2

On day 2 place flour and water from dough 3 in a large bowl, mix, and add dough 2. Knead by hand until combined. Let sit at room temperature for half an hour.

3

Add dough 1, oil, and additional yeast and knead with a machine for five minutes on lowest speed. Knead for five more minutes on second lowest speed. Form into a ball and place in a bowl covered with a damp towel.

4

Let rise for three hours at room temperature, knead by hand for about 30 seconds after 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes to give the yeast fresh oxygen. Each time from back into a ball, place in bowl and cover again.

5

After three hours, divide dough in half. Form two thirds of each half into a loaf, the last third serves as a wing you want to wrap around the loaf, so try to stretch that third to cover the rest. Do not separate this third part from the rest of the loaf. Brush the inside of the wing with additional olive oil, cover the loaf. Turn upside down so that the wing is on the bottom and place in a bread basket. Let rise for about 30-45min.

6

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Celsius and place loaves on baking sheet. Bake for 10min with no steam, then lower temperature to 230 degrees and bake for an additional 35-40min or until dark brown.

P.S.: As you can see fro the list of ingredients, homemade bread is naturally vegan. This bread consists of flour, semolina, yeast, salt, water, and olive oil.

If you are interested in a simple sourdough bread, I can recommend this one, you only need to prepare the sourdough the night before:

Easy sourdough bread

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14 Comments

  • Reply
    zorra
    Saturday October 20th, 2018 at 03:22 PM

    Gorgeous loaf and you choose your husband well. 😉 I am looking forward to see what your hubby will bake for next years WBD. 😉

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday October 20th, 2018 at 07:03 PM

      Thanks, Zorra, ich bin auch sehr gespannt. Thank you for organizing this every year!

  • Reply
    Norbert
    Wednesday May 13th, 2020 at 09:24 AM

    Hallo Jenny, nachdem ich bereits 2 x dieses “IT-Brot” gebacken habe und es heute abend das 3.te Mal backen werde, bin ich immer noch nicht im klaren wie der der Punkt 5 der Gebrauchsanweisung zu verstehen ist. Also ich nehme eine halbe Teigmenge, forme aus 2/3 davon einen Laib und ziehe das letzte Drittel flach (aber am anderen Teil bleibend oder separat? Du schreibst über den Teig “legen” als wenn es ein seoarates Stück ist?) und schlage es als Flügel über die ersten beiden Drittel. Wohin streiche ich das Olivenöl? Auf die Innenseite des Flüges oder auf die Aussenseite?

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Wednesday May 13th, 2020 at 09:59 AM

      Lieber Norbert, ich werde es auf jeden Fall umformulieren, damit es klarer wird, grundsätzlich bleiben alle drei Teile beieinander. Du ziehst den dritten Teil mit den Händen vom restlichen Brot weg und formst damit den Flügel (plattdrücken usw.). Wenn es für dich einfacher ist, kannst du den dritten Teil auch mit einem Nudelholz ausrollen nachdem du ihn ausgezogen hast. Und dann legst du ihn als Flügel über die restlichen 2/3, aber nicht vorher separieren oder abschneiden. Das Olivenöl kommt auf die Innenseite des Flügels. Grüße, Jenny

  • Reply
    Inca edel
    Saturday August 1st, 2020 at 04:26 PM

    Hallo
    hab das Brot schon beim Lesen des Rezeptes geschmeckt. Alles bestens schmeckt super zu Süßem,Suppen,Vorspeisen . Nur eins hab ich nicht geschafft beide Brote auf einem Blech abbacken , dazu waren sie zu gross, dick. Danke werde mich noch an die Anderen Rezepte wagen.Lg

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday August 1st, 2020 at 05:03 PM

      Danke fürs Kompliment! Wenn du magst, kannst du noch Sterne verteilen.
      Hast du ohne Brotkorb gebacken? Mit funktioniert es bei uns immer mit beiden Laiben auf einem Blech.

  • Reply
    Pascal
    Saturday December 5th, 2020 at 04:32 PM

    Hi, das Rezept ist wirklich sehr ausführlich, sowas lieb ich total. 🙂 Es bleibt nur eine Frage: Wie handhabt ihr das mit dem Dampf. Braucht das Brot Dampf oder nicht? Die Kruste schaut eher nach keinem Dampf aus.

    Grüße
    Pascal

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday December 5th, 2020 at 04:35 PM

      Lieber Pascal, du bist anscheinend Profi, korrekt, ohne Dampf, sonst hätte ich es erwähnt. Ich arbeite das noch ein.
      Grüße,
      Jenny

  • Reply
    Rosi
    Saturday March 20th, 2021 at 04:01 PM

    Hi Jenny,
    seit ca. einem Jahr backe ich das tolle italienische Brot. Ich probiere öfters verschiedene Varianten aus. Meistens mit Dinkelmehl und Dinkelgrieß oder mit Volkornmehl im Teig 2 und mit Sonnenblumenkernen.

    Ein super tolles Rezept, vielen Dank

    Viele Grüße aus dem Schwarzwald

    Rosi

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Saturday March 20th, 2021 at 04:29 PM

      Liebe Rosi, das freut mich sehr! Wenn du magst, kannst du auch noch eine Sternebewertung abgeben.

    • Reply
      Rosi
      Saturday March 20th, 2021 at 05:01 PM

      Hallo Jenny,

      kann ich gerne machen, leider weiß ich nicht wie. Kannst Du mir bitte eine Erklärung senden.

      Danke und Gruß Rosi

      • Reply
        Jenny
        Saturday March 20th, 2021 at 05:06 PM

        Liebe Rosi,
        schau mal, wo das Rezept anfängt, rechts neben dem kleinen Bild sind Sterne zu sehen. Wenn du mit der Maus darüber gehst, kannst du einen bis fünf Sterne vergeben (5 Sterne ist die beste Bewertung).
        Grüße,
        Jenny

  • Reply
    Anna
    Friday November 26th, 2021 at 03:54 PM

    This is a wonderful recipe, I tried it more than once and it always came out great.
    Unfortunately the tool to review and give stars on the website was a little confusing to me, I clicked on the stars because I thought it would direct me to the page where I can review, but apparently it already took my clicking on the stars as a review. Because I had clicked somewhere in the middle, because it’s on my phone and very tiny, my finger is as big as all the stars combined, it put me down for a very average rating and now I can‘t correct it. Anyways, I would give the recipe a full 5 out of 5. Maybe the way people can rate this recipe on the website could be adapted, so it’s easier to give a rating that actually reflects the great recipe.
    Best wishes from Munich, Anna

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Friday November 26th, 2021 at 04:59 PM

      Hi Anna, Unfortunately I cannot correct it myself, which makes sense, as otherwise I would probably change all to 5 stars 🙂 Anyway, I will keep this in mind, thanks for your feedback! PS: If you click on the German flag, my blog is also available in German. Best, Jenny

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