Rosemary Sea Salt Italian Bread

March 27, 2022

This Rosemary Sea Salt Italian Bread has the perfect amount of flavor sprinkled on top.

There’s nothing like a little homemade bread to dunk into soup on a chilly winter’s day. That being said, I like to make this rosemary sea salt Italian bread all year long. Homemade bread is just so much better than store-bought. Sure, you can pick it up in a bakery but it’s easy enough to make your own at home. Try it!

Ingredients needed:

active dry yeast
lukewarm water
all purpose flour
whole wheat flour
salt
cornmeal
fresh rosemary
flaky sea salt

This recipe calls for using two kinds of flour- all purpose and whole wheat. The whole wheat flour gives the bread a little bit of a different, delicious flavor. You can certainly use ALL all-purpose flour for this bread, if you’d like.

How to prepare the yeast:

To prepare the yeast in this recipe, you will dissolve the yeast in warm water and wait until it’s creamy and foamy looking. Make sure you use a new packet of yeast, and don’t use one that is expired. Old yeast won’t work, and your bread will not rise.

What’s the best yeast to use for baking bread?

You’ll use active dry yeast for this recipe. Active dry yeast is the most common type of yeast to use for baking bread. Most bread recipes will call for using this type of yeast unless they specify using something different.

How to make Rosemary Sea Salt Italian Bread:

In a food processor, combine the flours and salt. With the machine running, scrape the yeast mixture and the remaining ½ cup water through the feed tube until the dough just forms a ball. Knead the dough by pulsing until it is smooth and no longer sticky, about 30 times. Alternately, you can mix in a bowl, and then knead on a floured board thoroughly until the dough is smooth.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray; place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with a clean dishtowel and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough; lightly sprinkle a work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto the surface. Roll the dough out into a 12×16-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds, lengthwise, and pinch the seams to seal, forming into a 12-inch tapered oval loaf.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray; sprinkle the cornmeal in a 12-inch strip down the center. Place the loaf on the baking sheet, on top of the cornmeal. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Spray the loaf with nonstick spray and sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt. With a serrated knife, cut 2 to 3 slashes into the top.

Place in the upper third of a cold oven; set the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake about 20 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Remove from the baking sheet and cool completely on a rack before slicing.

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