That's what we had for dinner tonight. (Yes, I know, I still have the "Milk and Water Bread" recipe going. But this was a royal command suggestion from Herself.
Of course, the world's best meatball parm sandwich requires the world's best Italian bread. Namely:
Italian Batard (Everything Bread, p.30)
This is one instance in which I nearly followed the recipe. Not quite. The recipe calls for making a sponge and letting it develop for 8 to 12 hours. But as it was 1:00 in the afternoon when I got started, I decided to go ahead with a more conventional "proof, mix, rise" approach. It doesn't seem to have hurt the bread significantly—though I may try the sponge method next time. Now, on to the instructions:
The instructions say to mix the water, sugar/honey, and yeast, let stand about five minutes, mix in the 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and let the sponge develop for 8 to 12 hours. What I did was: Mix the water, honey, and yeast, and let it stand for ten minutes. Add the cup of all-purpose flour, then the oil, the bread flour, and finally the salt. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (it will be bigger than you'd expect; you're not going to be making just one loaf).
Line a baking sheet with parchment and dust with the cornmeal. Turn out the dough and divide it into two equal portions. Roll each piece into a football shape (American football, that is). Put the loaves on the baking sheet, and let rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C; Gas Mark 6).
At the end of the 30 minutes, score the tops of the loaves, not really deep, with a serrated knife:
This next step is really important to make a nice, chewy crust, and I almost forgot it. Don't Forget It!!! Put about half an inch of cold water into a pan in the bottom (lowest rack) of the oven. Then put in the bread and bake it for about 20 or 30 minutes. What happens here is that the crust absorbs the steam and gets all chewy and crusty. And you can't have "non-crusty" Italian bread!
Now here's where I had my problem, of sorts: My loaf had this dual personality; half nice and smooth and clear, half looking like it had some kind of skin problem.
See what I mean?
Now Herself did the rest. We had the sausage and meatballs cooked already; both frozen, from the store, but don't tell anyone :-) And the sauce was just tomato puree and a little bit of tomato paste, with a goodly amount of garlic powder, basil, parsley, and oregano stirred in. Cook it down for a few hours, ladle it over the split bread, cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and put it in the still cooling oven for long enough for the cheese to melt. The result:
Can't get better than that!
God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread (and even less with meatball sandwiches!)
Of course, the world's best meatball parm sandwich requires the world's best Italian bread. Namely:
Italian Batard (Everything Bread, p.30)
- ½ cup warm water (I used very warm water, nearly hot)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used the buckwheat honey; I do think it made a difference)
- 1¾ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package) (I put in closer to 2)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (for a change, I followed this—see explanation below)
- 1 cup warm milk (mine was more like room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoons [kosher] salt
- 3 – 4 cups bread flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal
This is one instance in which I nearly followed the recipe. Not quite. The recipe calls for making a sponge and letting it develop for 8 to 12 hours. But as it was 1:00 in the afternoon when I got started, I decided to go ahead with a more conventional "proof, mix, rise" approach. It doesn't seem to have hurt the bread significantly—though I may try the sponge method next time. Now, on to the instructions:
The instructions say to mix the water, sugar/honey, and yeast, let stand about five minutes, mix in the 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and let the sponge develop for 8 to 12 hours. What I did was: Mix the water, honey, and yeast, and let it stand for ten minutes. Add the cup of all-purpose flour, then the oil, the bread flour, and finally the salt. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (it will be bigger than you'd expect; you're not going to be making just one loaf).
Line a baking sheet with parchment and dust with the cornmeal. Turn out the dough and divide it into two equal portions. Roll each piece into a football shape (American football, that is). Put the loaves on the baking sheet, and let rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C; Gas Mark 6).
At the end of the 30 minutes, score the tops of the loaves, not really deep, with a serrated knife:
This next step is really important to make a nice, chewy crust, and I almost forgot it. Don't Forget It!!! Put about half an inch of cold water into a pan in the bottom (lowest rack) of the oven. Then put in the bread and bake it for about 20 or 30 minutes. What happens here is that the crust absorbs the steam and gets all chewy and crusty. And you can't have "non-crusty" Italian bread!
Now here's where I had my problem, of sorts: My loaf had this dual personality; half nice and smooth and clear, half looking like it had some kind of skin problem.
See what I mean?
Now Herself did the rest. We had the sausage and meatballs cooked already; both frozen, from the store, but don't tell anyone :-) And the sauce was just tomato puree and a little bit of tomato paste, with a goodly amount of garlic powder, basil, parsley, and oregano stirred in. Cook it down for a few hours, ladle it over the split bread, cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and put it in the still cooling oven for long enough for the cheese to melt. The result:
Can't get better than that!
God speed, and remember: All sorrows are less with bread (and even less with meatball sandwiches!)
YUM!
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